Preschoolers are generally curious and love to learn new things. So does our boy, who will ask me what a word means if he doesn’t understand it.
This is our conversation this morning:
Ed: “Mama, what is chicken “pops”?
Me: “Chicken pops? I’m not sure. Are you talking about KFC chicken popcorn?”
Ed: “No, Mama! It’s the red dots all over our body.”
Me: “Oh, that is called chicken POX. Not chicken pops. “
I began to explain to him what chicken pox is. I assured him that he has taken the vaccination, and he is unlikely to get it.
Then, I began to wonder where he learn the word from. Could it be someone in his class who has been infected with chicken pox? I probed further…
Me: “Son, can you tell me who has chicken pox?”
Ed: “It’s Little Bill!”
Okay, I got it. It’s the Little Bill from Nick Jr. again. He likes to watch Little Bill, maybe because they are of the same age. And now, he talks like him too.
Little Edison speaks proper English at home; we’re avoiding Singlish as much as we can. Under the influence of Little Bill, he speaks with a little American accent too.
This in turns puzzles his teacher, who asked me whether he is of mixed heritage – simply because he doesn’t speak English like any other Chinese kids in his class.
Of course, I told the teacher that he is 100% pure Chinese!
Here is our 5 year-old Little Edison – master of all playgrounds.
