Sunday, February 21, 2010

Stalling Tactics


Zaya always comes up with his most complex questions or discussion ideas when he's supposed to be sleeping. It's that last snuggle of the day when we get hit with questions like, "What causes Crohn's disease?" and "What's the difference between a heart and a spirit?" and "How do I know that everything is still there around me when I close my eyes?"

It was this last question, a metaphysical twist on the old "tree falls in the forest" idea, that made me relate one of those very strange but vivid childhood memories.

I remember being very young, at Calvary church in Texas, and suddenly realizing that all those times when the world went black for a second, it was just me blinking. I would have to have been three, or possibly four, but no older. I distinctly recall wondering why no one else commented on these frequent, periodic blackouts, and then realizing that I somehow controlled them, and them pausing one of them, and realizing that it was my own eyelids, and I was just blinking. All of that happened in less time than it takes to relate, but it was earth-shaking.

I do not control what happens to these other people. I felt stupid, relieved and disappointed at the same time. All pre-schoolers are a little egotistical, I suppose.

Anyway, Zaya thought it was hilarious, and made me tell him "the story about you blinking" several times before he would go to sleep.

I live to entertain my children.

5 comments:

Chandelle said...

I love it. I was absolutely convinced I had flown. I believed in this miracle for years. ....must have been one realistic dream.

Lilibeth said...

Sounds like the wheels keep turning. I love the thirst for knowledge that bubbles out of children.. . or would that be bubbles in?

aftergrace said...

The human body is a wonder! God made us so perfectly-we don't even need to think before we blink!
:)

Qtpies7 said...

That is hysterical! Thanks for giving me a good laugh today, I needed it.

Joyful Noise said...

Wow, my friend Qtpies7 told me to check you out because my son has an imagination but I am glad that he does not ask the kind of questions like yours. My son just thinks that he knows everything about everything and he will tell you. I will have to read your blog more often!