Saturday, September 6, 2014

Life with Brady: a test in mental stamina

Brady loves to talk.  Specifically, Brady likes to ask questions.  I love this, because it shows how his little mind is developing while he tries to figure out the world around him.  But, and this is a big but, I am generally around Brady from 6:30 am to 8:30 pm each day with a two hour break in the middle (what a glorious break that is).  So, 12 hours of question-asking can be emotionally exhausting.

Even when he has things in his mouth (food), his questions do not stop.  I think I made an error the other day -- we were at Eric's parents house and Brady pointed to the TV over their kitchen table and asked to turn it on. I told him that dinner was a time for talking with your family and finding out how everyone's day was.  So the other day at lunch, after a morning of being peppered with never-ending questions, I suggested we take a break talking and just eat. "But mom, eating at the table is for talking to your family."

Maybe I should have focused on the eating aspect of meals.

Eric had to work the entire day today, so I was on my own when it came to question answering.  Here's a typical conversation, and one that we had on the way home from the grocery store.

B: What are those in front of us?
Me: What are you talking about?  The cars?
B: Yeah. What's behind them?
Me: Behind them?  Our car is behind them.
B: No, their trunks, that's behind them.
Me: Oh, right, the trunks are in the back.
B: What's in them?
Me: In the trunks? I don't know. Maybe nothing.
B: Maybe groceries?
Me: Yeah, they might have groceries in their trunk like we do.
B: Did they go to the grocery store?
Me: They might have.
B: Did they go to the grocery store with us?
Me: No, we went alone.
B: Did they go alone?
Me: Yes.
B: Do they like to go alone?
Me: YES PROBABLY BECAUSE THEY COULD HEAR THEMSELVES THINK!

Ok, I didn't say that last part, but the rest is true.  I guess I should be thankful its not just "WHY?" all day long, but it really takes some mental stamina to listen what he's asking and try to answer in a way that won't bring about a slew of further questions (I fail at this almost every time).

There will likely be a day when I'm begging to gather information from a teenager who's day was fine and learned nothing at school.  So I'm trying embrace this curious stage of life.  But don't judge me when I crank up the music  in the car the next time we go grocery shopping.

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