Show and tell

I'd like to remind everyone that the little guy is still 3-years old. His birthday is fast approaching, but he is still pretty young to be in Kindergarten.

Today was his turn for Show and Tell. The topic was "What do I want to be when I grow up." We had to prepare him to talk about his dream job, why that job is important, the tools he would need to do the job, and what he would need to learn before he could do the job. The teacher requested that the kids bring props to assist them with their presentations. Getting him ready for Show and Tell was no easy task, let me tell you. It was actually pretty stressful (for me, at least).

First he had to decide what job he wanted to talk about. Normally he wavers between firefighter and astronaut. But out of the blue he decided that what he'd really like to be is a train engineer. Doh! We have tons of props for firefighter and astronaut but zip for train engineer (except Thomas, and we didn't want his presentation to turn into a discussion about fictional trains).

So we went on the internet and found some cool pictures of different kinds of trains (the royal "we" that is). Then we talked about how driving a train is important because the engineer carries "coal and toys and people" to where they need to go. Afterwards we made a list of the tools he would need for the the job. His list included:
- A train
- An engineers hat (very important!)
- A whistle
- people and seats
- controls and a radio (this got added to his list with some prompting)

He decided that he would need to learn how to drive a train in order to do the job, which I thought was a very good answer to the last question.

So....after a couple of hours of preparation (mostly me doing the preparing) we rehearsed his presentation. From my perspective, It didn't go so well. From his perspective, it was brilliant. What do you think?

Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Little guy: A train Engineer

Me: Why is that an important job?

Little guy: Because I want to drive a train.

Me: But why is it important that someone drives the train?

Little guy: Because it's fun.

Me: Is it important because you need to carry people and things to where they need to go?

Little guy: Yah. But it's important because I like to have fun.

Me: What tools would you need to drive the train?

Little guy: A train, an engineers hat, people and seats.

Me: What else?

Little guy: Remote controls

Me: And what do you need to learn before you drive a train?

Little guy: (totally distracted, playing with his cars)

Me: What do you need to learn before you can drive a train?

Little guy: Mom, can I watch Franklin?

Sweet tooth

The little guy has inherited my sweet tooth. I'm constantly telling him that sugary treats are bad for his teeth.

After finishing a lollypop from his Halloween bag he ran into the bathroom.

"Mom!" he yelled.

"Yes," I replied.

"All my teeth are still here. I checked!"

Remembrance Day

The little guy came home from school this morning wearing a poppy and told me "I'm wearing a flower because some people died."

"At school did they talk about who died?" I asked.

"I'm not sure....But I think maybe it was students at my school."

"I think the people who died were soldiers who died in a war."

"Maybe they will feel better now."

I tried to explain, but he doesn't quite get it yet. But it's good to at least start the conversation.