Got Milk?

We were at a convenience store getting some cold drinks for a hot day. Micah made a beeline for the milk and pointed out his choice.

That gallon right there would do very well, thankyouverymuch.
 Knowing that he wanted milk, we chose a more conveniently sized bottle for him to make it easier to handle in the van. (Plus, we don't really encourage drinking from the gallon jug.) But the small container was clearly not what he was after. Maybe if he pointed to the gallon a few dozen more times we'd get the hint that it was milk that he wanted.

See? It's in the yellow container? Milk. That's what I want. Not blue. See? That one is blue, and is in the shape of an iced tea container. Not tea, milk. MILK. It's what I want.

Clearly we were the densest parents on Planet Earth.

And then I had a brilliant idea. It was a long shot because the boy doesn't reason well. You can't explain things to him and have him understand. But it was worth a shot. I held the small blue container beside the large yellow one and pointed to the word MILK on each one. I showed him how they're the same word, and both containers are milk, just different sizes.

And by golly, it worked. His little light bulb went on, he reached for the small blue bottle of milk, and happily went his way without saying another word.

Wow.

Reasoning and comprehension. Life could become a whole lot easier for all of us if this is going to be a trend.

8 comments:

Annette W. said...

Woo-hoo!!

Michelle said...

OMG! That rocks - and again, almost made me cry. How are you not one of the top parent writing blogs?

Karen said...

Michelle - I know, right?! The awesomeness of that moment blew me away. It was actually kind of awkward for me to be standing there listening to the Hallelujah Chorus of my own private angel choir when the rest of the convenience store was oblivious.

Debbie @ Three Weddings said...

Reading is where it's at! What a smart kid and lucky to have such a smart mama!

Trisha said...

Yeah! That was good thinking on your part and on Micah's part!

Lisa Page Rosenberg said...

Hallelujah Chorus indeed!

Teresa Dawn said...

That was smart thinking (For you both).

caramama said...

Yeah!!!

Huh. I wonder if this moment is what got him wanting you to actually read books. Maybe he's started to comprehend that the letters tell you something.