My 18-month-old daughter kept pointing to the full moon in the book Goodnight Moon and then at the crescent-shaped one on the wall that the cow was jumping over. My husband decided to supply her with, “Well, Sweetheart, sometimes the moon is full when the earth is not blocking it from the sun, and the crescent shape comes from when…[yada yada yada…]” When he finished he said, “Do you understand?”
She nodded her head diligently.
Then I said, “Daddy, could you please explain it one more time for me?”
-Alana, mother of 2
Motherhood and Martial Arts 
Haha, sounds like when my husband goes off on one of his long-winded explanations. I have to remind him that teenagers stop listening after the first sentence or two. Short is definitely sweet!
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Yep, I know it!
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Haha that’s adorable. I don’t know what it is with kids and the moon. My two and a half year old is fascinated with it. Whenever we are in the car and it’s dark outside he asks me to open the shade to the moon roof so he can see the moon. If he can’t see it he will spend the entire drive saying, “Moooooon….Where arrrreeee yooouuu?” in a little sing song voice over and over again.
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My six-year-old still does practically that. I’m glad you’re enjoying it. It may last a long time. 😉
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“Enjoying” might not be the right word. It’s a nice reprieve from the “Mama, you see airplane?” phase. He is slowly transitioning out of the moon phase and in to the “Mama, you see octagon? (stop sign)” phase. Which so far might be my least favorite of the driving conversations because he inexplicably feels the need to yell REALLY loud whenever he sees a sign. Please tell me that’s a short lived phase!
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Oooh, I wish I could tell you, but none of my kids really went through that, or at least it was brief and it didn’t involve yelling. We do sometimes play “I spy.” Maybe if you did that, you could do most of the talking. . . slowly, and all he would have to yell is, “There!” It could be an improvement. You wouldn’t even have to verify that his “there” was the correct item! 😉
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That’s a good idea. I remember playing that as a kid. I’ll give that a shot. Thank you.
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Awesome! Let me know if it works!
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My baby talk for “light” was “hee haw”. That would include stars, so I’m told that one starry night I felt impelled to point each one out, “Hee haw!”
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Ha! Now that’s very scientific.
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Better would’ve been a demo with a flashlight and a ball in a dark room. But then they’ll want you to do it every night. At 18 mos. they’re not going to experience it as an explanation, but as Daddy doing something funny.
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I don’t think, at 18 months, even a demonstration would cause much knowledge to be retained, but it would be entertaining!
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TMI – that is what she was thinking. Is he a science teacher?
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Yes, possbibly. 🙂 Actually he’s an actor!
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He had an audience and did not let her go.
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It was a very unique bedtime story!
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This reminds me of when I was on a tour boat with a bunch of other families, and every parent was “teaching” their kids all about boats and water and the ocean. Meanwhile the kids were simply enjoying the fresh air on their faces 🙂
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I’m sure they were at least enjoying their parents attention, even if they had no clue what they were talking about!
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