Thursday, May 30, 2013

Rorschach tests, the primacy of pink, and alien life


I'm catching up with conversations had with my daughter over the last month, and here's the first installment. Her early proclivities towards drawing are still going strong, which makes me a proud dad.
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Addison comes running, a paper flapping in her hand. 
Addison: Look! Look what I drew! 
Me: What is it? 
Addison: I don't know! Tell me! Tell me! 
With my three-year-old already giving me Rorschach tests, I wonder when the psychoanalysis comes.
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While coloring with my daughter, I started to put the cap on the pink marker and reach for the green one. 
Addison: Hey! Do NOT put that cap on! 
Me: But I was just going to... 
Addison: No! You are using the pink. I asked for you to use it, and so you need to USE IT! 
Me: When do I get to use something else? 
Addison: When I tell you to. Now, finish coloring! 
She's especially assertive today. And really likes pink.
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This morning after working on our letters on the whiteboard, we turned to drawing: 
Addison: Wait, what are you doing dad? 
Me: Drawing an alien. 
Addison (laughing): Not on earth! Aliens are not on earth! Silly daddy. (still laughing) 
Me: Okay, where are aliens? 
Addison: On that other planet. The RED one. 
She marches over to the far side of the white board and jabs her finger at a blank spot in the corner. 
Addison: You can draw the red planet here. And that's where the aliens are. 
I can not tell you how psyched I am that the exploration (and colonization?!) of Mars is basically occurring during the most formative years of her life. This kid is gonna learn about outer space, I can tell you. It reminds me of the sense of wonder I had as a kid. This is really going to be a lot of fun.