Monday, November 28, 2011

437 Questions a Day

I read somewhere recently that an average four-year-old child asks 437 questions a day.  That statistic in itself does not surprise me--after all, Sooby is four, and I frequently find myself on the answering end of what seems like an endless barrage of questions.  But what I did not realize until just a few days ago is that all 437 questions can occur during a seemingly innocent bedtime reading of Clement C. Moore's "The Night Before Christmas."  Here are some highlights.

Googie:  Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
Sooby:  What were they stirring?  Why didn't the mouse get to stir?
Googie:  They weren't stirring anything in a bowl.  Here, stirring means "moving around."
Sooby:  Why weren't they moving?  Were they playing freeze tag?
Googie:  It just means everybody was asleep.  Let's turn the page.

Googie:  While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
Sooby:  Did the kids wake up when the sugar plums danced?  Did they tap dance?  Did it hurt their heads?  Does a sugar plum have legs?
Googie:  It just means the kids were dreaming something good.  There wasn't any actual dancing.  We call this personification.
Sooby:  What?
Googie:  Never mind.  Let's go on.

Googie:  Away to the window I flew like a flash/Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
Sooby:  Did the daddy have wings? 
Googie:  No, he didn't really fly.  He just got up and went to the window in a very big hurry.
Sooby:  Did he get in trouble for tearing the shutters?  Was that lady with a handkerchief on her head mad? 
Googie:  No.  Luckily, she didn't wake up.
Sooby:  Did the daddy THROW UP?  What color was the sash?
Googie:  On we go.

Googie:  . . . a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer.
Sooby:  What does miniature mean?
Googie:  Very small.
Sooby:  Why is the sleigh small?  Why are the reindeer tiny?  Why doesn't Santa have big reindeer?  How can little reindeer pull a big fat man?  [She looks at the picture]  Where is Rudolph?
Googie:  [Sighing and crossing her eyes] He comes into the story later.

Googie:  The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth . . . .
Sooby:  Why is Santa SMOKING?  Doesn't he know that is bad for you?  Will it make him sick?  Is he going to smoke in OUR house?
Googie:  I don't think he smokes anymore.  This story about Santa was written a long time ago.  Come on, we're almost to the end.

Googie:  . . . and a round little belly/That shook, when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
Sooby:  What is Santa laughing at?
Googie:  It doesn't say.  I guess people that are jolly just laugh a lot.
Sooby:  Why is the jelly in a bowl instead of a jar?
Googie:  Well, jelly couldn't wiggle if it was in a jar.  This is a simile.  Don't ask--never mind.

Googie:  And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.
Sooby:  How can Santa go UP the chimney?
Googie:  Very.  Carefully. 

Googie:  . . . and to all a good night.  This means it's time to say good night to you too, Miss Sooby.
Sooby:  [Question 436] Can I ask just one more question?
Googie:  What?
Sooby:  [Question 437] Can we read it again?
Googie:  Not now.  It's time for me to settle down for one of those long winter's naps.  Maybe tomorrow.

Tomorrow.  A new day. A new chance to read with Sooby.  A new set of questions. 

 

6 comments:

  1. What a great story! Made me think back to all the questions Amara used to ask when she was 4. Now that she is 7 1/2 she knows all the answers to all of the questions!

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  2. Hilarious! My littlest granddaughter, who is 7, now points out all the figurative language to me. But she still asks other questions.

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  3. Ok! Laughing so hard I'm crying!!! That is too funny and now I know why I am so tired at the end of the day....all those questions! Fabulously told story as usual, thanks for linking with me!

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  4. OMGoodness this is SO cute and funny! Now that my grandsons are four, I am gettings lots of "why?...but WHYYYY?" after pretty much everything I tell them. I have resorted to just mumbling "I don't know, sweetie." Then I feel guilty because I'm a grandma and I am SUPPOSED to either know or at least try to explain everything!
    I loved reading your post from the perspective of a child. They just KNOW jelly doesn't belong in a bowl, and if everybody is getting a chance to stir, then that mouse better have a chance, too. It's only fair!

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  5. I used to have many of the same questions about Clement C. Moore's classic Christmas poem. I've always loved it. But when I was little I thought a sash was the tie on the back of a little girl's dress. This brought back many memories and made me laugh.

    I hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving surrounded by those you love.

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  6. I loved this the first time I read it and it is still wonderful. Just this week they were discussing on the news how certain parts have now been edited out of the story by the author -- including Santa's pipe. Somehow I just don't like that -- and I don't smoke! But Santa has a pipe!

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