When my wife got her driver's licence she was presented with a little stuffed animal as a gift. Ever since then it is dangling from the rear view mirror in whatever car she (now we) owns.
Yesterday my son and I were driving home from daycare and out of the blue he asks me "Daddy, what animal is that?" and points at that figure. I already opened my mouth to answer him when I thought, this might be the right time to let him figure stuff out for himself. He has seen these animals in real life already (there's an old church close by in which a few of them found a home) and he knows their name.
I gave him a hint:
"It is an animal that can fly but it is not a bird."
You have to know that he is almost 5 years old so patience is not (yet) one of his virtues. Of course he begged like every other kid would "Oh please, please tell me" but I insisted on him figuring it out by himself.
I tried boosting his confidence, that I know he will eventually figure it out. Additionally I told him that it is ok if it takes a while, maybe even a few days. Life is difficult that way, you do not always get an answer right away.
Later that day, it was almost bed time, he was sitting on his mother's lap and they were reading a book The Little Ghost when all of a sudden I heard him yelling.
"MOMMY! MOMMY! That's it!"
His mother was shocked, he never before reacted that way to being read a story. And he had been read that book already many times before. When she asked what was going on, he grabbed the book, jumped from her lap and yelled "No time, I have to tell daddy! I found the animal!"
I heard all this because I was in the next room and he was so excited and loud I could have heard it in every room. His little feet stomped full of energy through the house, the rhythm of his steps suggested he was stumbling once or twice. All the while yelling "Daddy, daddy, where are you?"
Me answering "at my desk, what's up?" finally pointed him into the right direction. He sprinted to me, showed me a page from the book and yelled "It's a bat! It's a bat!"
Drawn by Daniel Napp; Published in "Das kleine Gespenst - Tohuwabohu auf Burg Eulenstein" written by Preußler, Otfried; Thienemann-Esslinger Verlag GmbH in 2021
"I can see that" I said. "But why are you showing me this?"
"The animal in our car!" he said, still yelling full of excitement. "An animal that can fly but is not a bird. It is a bat!"
"Oh, right.... Well done." I replied with a big grin on my face.
I was so proud of him. I picked him up, hugged him dearly and whispered in his ear "See, I knew you would find it out. My little detective."
Header image designed with Canva - "Dangling Bat" picture taken myself
What a fabulous story! This was delightful to read! I love watching the gears turn in children's heads as they figure things out! Bravo! 😊
His active thinking is just cute. Sometimes he puts his pointy finger to his chin and stares at the ceiling and thinks out loud, just makes me smile.
hehehehe so so so so cute!
i love children!
What a killer story!!! And I could see my grandkids hands in that photo as well, I miss them, and you just provided a neat way of visualizing them here!!!
And your decision for him to learn on his own discovery is perfect, and dead on in the timing of his life!
Also, yes, as @tengolotodo has said, the results of you bringing this story up not only here, on Hive, but also in the Dreemport server in Discord, as it turned into a massive multifunction learning event!!!
Beautiful!!!
Wow, thank you for the compliment.
Your comment really touched me, don't know what else to say 😊
!LOVE
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I thought this story was great. It's a great way to teach your child that he has to wait for some things and is capable of finding some answers on his own. Unfortunately we live in the era of immediate gratification in which both adults and children have become badly accustomed to this type of response and that brings a few negative consequences.
I loved coming to you through Dreemport. Kisses for your smart baby 😉.
PD: It made me laugh a lot because I thought the doll was a koala. When I read that "it was flying and it wasn't a bird" I had to go see it again hahaha 🤣
Thank you, that is an interesting point you bring up there. Never thought of it that way.
Oh wow, now that you mention it, could look like a koala. Well, it's about 20 years old now so the sunlight took its toll on the colors :-)
I was very moved by your story.
Wow 20 years of history and now telling more including this one that you told us with your son. Good night 🌸!
Thank you.
The ironic part is, I got so used to the little bat hanging there I don't even notice it anymore... Until my little one pointed it out again.
Have a good night.
Look, here's another important life lesson. Many times we go unnoticed little things in life, even though they are always there. Many times we let problems, or day-to-day hustle and bustle, rob us of attention to detail.
But that innocent soul made you turn your eyes to that bat that has been an inseparable companion, that has a great history, and has been a companion in many adventures. That and writing that story made you go back, brought back memories and helped you build a new one with your son in it and his new learning.
How wonderful life is and how wonderful children are.Have a great and nice day next to your beautiful family 🌸☕
Awwww! This is so cute. I had giggles on my face reading this. I can imagine how accomplished he must have felt when he discovered the answer to the riddle. Such a smart kid. To think he kept it in his mind all day. Now that's something.
Hehe, thank you. Yes, he has a looong memory, for such a young child, if and when he is determined on something. Scares me sometimes, when he remembers things that happened days or weeks ago and he puts it back on the table when he needs it. :-)
Oh I think it's a good thing. Kids with photographic memory do well academically. He's such a bright kid and he'll surely win lots of awards in the future.
Wow, I'm so proud of the little boy. I loved how the man made him put on his thinking cap and he was also determined to give you an answer to.
He is a brilliant boy, I'm sure his mother will be very proud of him when she finds out why her little boy was in a hurry to see his father 😊😊.
Dreemport brought me here.
Oh yes, she was :-)
Yeah, she should 😊.
This is the most precious story ever!!!!!!! hahahha I love that he had this EUREKA moment!!!! It's so wonderful when we get to experience the joy of discovery with our children!!!!!
It's just wonderful indeed.
And thank you again for helping me out in discord. Much appreciated.
sure - it was a mutually beneficial conversation!
i got help too! :)
That is fantastic, and thanks for bringing up the discussion in discord!
Thank you. I'm glad I did, helped me a lot as well 😉
Yeah it was interesting and would have done what you have done now!
Hahah... I see! You finally got to find a way to use the image without any copyright issue. Haha.
Yeah, I saw all the discussion on our discord Channel. Nice story up the
Hehehe, The way the discussion in discord went was just great.
Showed me just how great this group really is, everyone coming together and waying in. And a really constructive and civilized conversation, reminded me of the early days of the internet, when it was all about bringing us all a step forward together.
Never thought I would experience that again and yet here we are.
Hive and the Dreemers, truely a dre(a)(e)m team.
Nice. I'm excited to hear this about the team. Haha.
We all get to learn everyday through genuine discussion and willingness to grow together as a big community.
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What a great story!
Thank you, much appreciated :-)
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