Norah doesn't quite grasp emotions yet. Or, really, she doesn't quite grasp the complex expression of emotions or emotional language. For instance, in response to a question like, "Why are you crying?" She often says, "Because I am."
Recently, at school, their focus for a week was on emotions, so they were learning about happy, sad, angry, frustrated, scared, etc. Still, even after the week's study, Norah pretty much limits her emotional range to "That makes me happy!" and "That doesn't make me happy!"
Yesterday, then, I was trying to talk to her some about Thanksgiving and what it means to be thankful. Granted, "thankful" is a toughie in terms of emotional range, and I used a lot of big words (grateful, appreciate), but I also did my best to frame it in her "what makes you happy" way of understanding the world. So, I was explaining the kinds of people and comforts that she has in her life that she should be thankful for; then I posed the question to her: "So, sweetie, what are you thankful for?"
"Sandwiches," she told me.
"Sandwiches?" I asked. The choice confused me. "Candy" I could've seen coming, but sandwiches?
"Yeah, sandwiches make me happy."
Okey-dokey. Sandwiches, people, Norah is thankful for sandwiches.
6 comments:
Taking a big leap from what she actually said...she's thankful for the food her Mommy and Daddy put on the table. She's thankful it helps her grow (well, maybe one day she will grow taller...). She's thankful she never goes hungry.
I think she did excellent with her selection. She just wanted to see if you could figure it out.
Sandwiches make me happy too. That's one smart kid.
At daycare, my daughter's class put up a "thankful" turkey, where all the kids had to tell the teachers what they were thankful for, and it was then written on their very own feather. What was my daughter thankful for? "Mama, Daddo and roosters." Roosters? Where the heck did that come from? 3 year olds are so weird :-)
Has she been watching Joey on Friends?
haha, i'm eating a ham and cheese sandwich right now :)
so cute, that norah!
Brilliant! Do you know how much easier it is to make a turkey sandwich for Thanksgiving versus the whole turkey w/stuffing... Sandwiches it is!
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