Wednesday, April 28, 2010

family: ...do what you want to do...

negotiations, 4yo-vs-2yo style

Best friends
(and sisters too)


backstory: every day each girl picks one episode of SC, and K always picks the first one.

After the first episode:

me: Now it's L's turn to pick.
L: Now it my turn to pick!
K: Yeah.
me (scrolling through options): Any of these?
L (glancing at K): No.
me (continuing to scroll): These?
L (softly, pointing): That one. (glances at her sister)
K (quick shake of the head):
L: No.
me (scrolling): Any of these?
L (glance at K):
K (head shake):
L: No
me (scrolling: These?
L (glance reveals no head shaking, so tentative point): That one. (glances at K)
K (quick nod)
L: Yeah, that one.

the way it all goes down, with a minimum of talking, but just enough body language (and the comprehension of body language!) is pretty amazing. I picture K as the Godfather, passing judgment with a simple nod or head shake, no wasted energy....

That L, with her confusion of the meanings of so many words, gets K's meaning so clearly is mind-boggling to me. Or maybe not, given that especially early on, children have to get understanding from how we look and act.

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