Changing views

November 21, 2010 - 12:40 PM by

What’s great about hanging out with kids, toddlers in my case, is how they look at the world and get you to do the same. Since I spend a lot of time with twin two-year-old boys, there’s a lot of talk about trucks, cars, the moon, the sun, the stars and the sky, and, animals. That’s not to say that there isn’t interest in other subjects, but those tend to be the main topics.

So much so, that when I’m on my own, in the car, let’s say, and spot a really spectacular tractor-trailer, cement mixer or front-end loader, I remark on it to myself and experience a certain amount of disappointment that the boys aren’t around to see it for themselves.

Or take this morning, when we were reading Eric Carle’s The Mixed-Up Chameleon, about a chameleon who is suffering from a lack of self-confidence and decides to take on the physical characteristics of a host of zoo animals before realizing that it’s worth just being himself.

Anyway. Wouldn’t you know it, but just after we finished reading it, a Mediterranean gecko or possibly a Lebanon lizard — as one local naturalist, Leiah Elbaum, describes it — snuck by us, possibly in pursuit of the moth that had been flitting around the house last night. The boys and I took after it, running around the living room in search of it along the seams and edges of the floor and walls, but no luck after that first glimpse.

Still, there was an element of instant education and gratification. And while it wasn’t exactly a chameleon, it was close enough. Particularly as it was easily blending into the stone-colored tiles of our floors.

Tags: , , • Category: education, Environment, General, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life 

Comments

One Comment on Changing views

  1. Yael on Sun, Nov 21st 2010 12:53 PM

    2. i know exactly what you mean! when I see impressive construction equipment, I always think, what a shame Yagel isn’t here to see this, he would love it!

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