Little kids don't wear watches and they don't use calendars, because they are not interested in the passage of time. They haven't experienced enough time yet to notice or care.
We overheard a conversation today between a 7-year old and one of those adults who don't know how to talk to kids very well. This type of adult struggles to think of interesting topics for kids - or, worse, doesn't, and either talks to the kid as an imbecile, or as another form, like a larva, rather than as a real person with proclivities.
These adults will fall back on the passage of time as a topic.
"What grade are you in at school?," we heard this well-meaning adult ask a kid out in public today.
"Second grade."
"Uh-huh," the adult says. A long pause. "Well. Do you know what's really scary? I can remember when I was in second grade."
Another pause, as the kid waits - patiently, but to no avail. Finally, he asks: "What happened?"
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
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