We’re road tripping to Texas. O was in the backseat rolling out a question spree that was starting to annoy SJN. Anyone else who has had a four-, five- or six-year-old knows exactly what I’m talking about.
So SJN explains that the muscles in her ears are tired of working so hard and they just need a little break from all his pointless questions. O doesn’t seem to care.
His next question: “How are miles made?” (We’re pretty sure he used a lowercase “m”, which makes a big difference in how we’d have to answer that question.)
Exasperated SJN says, “There just aren’t any answers to questions like that.”
O says, “Why aren’t there any answers to questions like that?”
Please respond with YOUR answers to that question.
(Our answer was just laughing and shaking our heads.)
Posted by Ellie on April 12, 2009 at 12:05 am
I went to an overview of the gifted program for our schools a few years ago and they said that a smart child knows the answers, a gifted child asks the questions, and a highly gifted child asks the questions that don’t have any answers. So there you go.
Posted by oakleynagels on April 12, 2009 at 12:31 am
I’m fond of a comment from one of my colleagues at a teacher training regarding giftedness. She said, “Einstein was gifted. What we’re really talking here about are ‘high achievers.’”
Posted by denebug on April 12, 2009 at 3:22 am
Any answer we would give would just infuriate our kids, especially Jacob.
“How are miles made?”
“The same way feet are, just five thousand, two hundred and eighty of them.”
“How are feet made?”
“You grow them on the ends of your legs.”
And so on, until he AARGHs in frustration.
Then we laugh.
Posted by Sean on April 12, 2009 at 8:39 pm
So the trick is to turn the tables…
Why do you think that questions like that don’t have answers. And whatever the response, ask another even more outrageous question.