the hard part of parenting

[gonnabeuptome]

Listening to grownup audiobooks with kids around sometimes means needing to explain things I have never considered explaining. After a sentence going something like "and they nodded when she nodded, and they shook their heads when she shook her head" Vilja looked at me and asked "why are they imitating her?" I was completely taken aback. "Well,

Comments

[norwaygranny]

You are worrying more than you need to - she sounds like a very bright child - and from my experience, the question won't stop until she hears the whole thing and tortures you with more inquiries.
Another possibility is, if the book is really written for adults, she will probably become bored and want to do something else.

[gonnabeuptome]

Yes, she had been listening to it quite a while before she found something she understood well enough to start asking questions from, I think, or became interested.

She wouldn't get much out of this book, I am certain of it. It's full of references to linguistics and the academic environment. It also has some explicit parts that would only confuse her.

It's one of my favorite things about children, though, the way they ask about everything, and how intelligent their questions often are - when they seem silly it's usually just about their limited access to information, or their childish priorities.

[norwaygranny]

I love these same things - If only I had their energy!

[gonnabeuptome]

Oh yes! I feel I learned so much faster when I was a child, and I wonder how much I could learn if I had the ability to keep up that intense speed.

[purplebookfairy]

*hugs*

She's a smart kid, but I think you probably did the right thing...

BTW; Feel free to add me back. ;)

[gonnabeuptome]

Yes, the alternative hadn't been any good either. But not listening to grownup audiobooks when she's around might be a good idea for the future. Not that I can (or want to) protect her entirely from things she doesn't understand, but books is kind of a sore point.

And of course you are added back.

[purplebookfairy]

Sore point? How so? *curious*

[gonnabeuptome]

Well, I used to be quite hurt by that kind of attitude from grownups, and they flourished - even about books I was already reading.

[gonnabeuptome]

Yes... without audiobooks, I think this kind of thing enforces itself to a higher degree, because five-year-olds generally don't read well enough for that.

[trampili]

I'm sure you did the right thing. Children need limits and expect their parents to give said limits. Such as the time they go to bed, what they eat, etc. Your child expects you to know better than her, because she is still learning. Children who have parents that don't give them any guidance or treat them just like friends (and not like sons/daughters) usually have one or another problem of adjustment.

Anyway. All that goes to say, you just gave her a simple limit and she seems to have taken it just fine as well. (Afterall, you answered her specific questions, just didn't let her listen to the 9 disks). :)

From what I read, I always think of you as a good mom and as of Vilja as a bright kid.