May 19th

Maybe at times I am a bit harsh on the kids. I tell Lili if she really has nothing to say than she just shouldn’t bother. She can talk a lot of nonsense especially when she is desperate to make conversation. Jen and I can get carried away on our own. At dinner for instance it can be boring to someone who doesn’t share our insight into contemporary European politics. It is unfair also because we all can have moment of talking nonsense, or not even moments but regular sessions and periods. Like I do. Besides, often the main attempt from her part is to make conversation. (of course there is the other motivation of intending to be funny without quite understanding that to be funny means being clever at it, not an idiot).

Today we were most intrigued however by Lili’s choice of topic of conversation. She decided to tell us about the discussion they have had after school while playing outside. She couldn’t remember how but they ended up discussing God and comparing creationist, evolution and gaia theories. Apparently in her class most kids are into creationist theories, the kind of God did it all and keeps it moving. Lili it seems didn’t even take an agnostic point of view but outright argued that people evolved from monkeys and it was kind of a random process. She seemed to have been intrigued by the gaia theory, planet earth is a living organism.

It was wonderful to hear how they have managed to have a – at times - heated discussion without finding it too stressful and backing themselves into a corner. Once they bored talking, they just got on with other stuff of life. Things to learn from our kids.

In the meantime , while Lili was storytelling, Ernest has managed to eat some of his food but mostly fooled around with it. At times he would grab a handful of rice and staff it in his face regardless how much would actually fit in his mouth then shake the left out rice off his hand wiping the remains on his clothes. He managed to do all this without grabbing his glass and pouring its contents intentionally in his plate or on the floor. There is a cognitive gap between our children. It is possibly age related though.