Dear Mai,
So I've been sick all weekend so we've been cooped up in the house all weekend. I started finally feeling better today and we had some errands to run. We had to go to Target and Home Depot. One of the things on our list was some new legos for you so naturally you wanted to go to Target first. I grudgingly agreed and we headed out.
Daddy: "Okay. Off we go. Target first then Home Depot."
Maya: (after a few moments of silence) "Daddy what is this play area?"
Now let me give you some context. The neighborhood we live in has a lot of parks so you like to go to all of them. You asked this as we were leaving our neighborhood and there is a cemetery on the edge.
Daddy: "Ah. That's not a play area. That's a cemetery."
Maya: "What's a summertery? Do they play summer things there?"
Daddy: "No. Not SUMMERtery. CEMEtery and they don't play there."
Maya: "What's a cemetery and what do they do there?"
Daddy: "Um. Uh. Well... hmmm... How do I explain this. Do you remember when we go visit Grandma, my mommy?"
Maya: "Yes"
Daddy: "Do you then remember when we go visit Grandpa and we go to a field and there's a pond and a huge stone and we talk and say hi to Grandpa?"
Maya: "Yes"
Daddy: "Okay good. That's a cemetery. Cemeteries are places where people have stones for people they love that are no longer with us. You know. People that have died. But we can still visit them there. That is Grandpa's cemetery and this one is a cemetery for other people."
Maya: (silence)
Daddy: (thinks) "I probably fouled that up."
Maya: "You're going the wrong way."
Daddy: "What?"
Maya: "You're going the wrong way. You said we could go to Target first and this is the way to Home Depot."
Daddy: (relieved and confused) "You are correct this IS the way to Home Depot BUT I'm taking a shortcut to Target this way."
Maya: "Oh. I like shortcuts. Mommy doesn't take this shortcut to Target. She goes the right way."
Mai, I don't know if half of what I say makes sense to you. I hope that it does and I'm sure I'll mess up a plenty of hard topics as we grow together. I hope that eventually I'll get it right and we can always talk openly and candidly.
Until then, I'm pretty okay with avoiding the conversation by a 3 year old pointing out that she pays attention and has a strong sense of direction.
Love,
Daddy