He said, "Yes, one last question. Why is red red?"
To be fair to the school administrator who was caught off guard, his mother would have been happy if this lady would just answer she didn't know but would promise to look for an answer. Instead, she gave a long lecture on red being a colour and started naming things that were red. Of course, Bryan's friend wasn't satisfied mainly because she didn't answer the question. So he asked again, "Why is red red?" Sensing the other lady's exasperation, his very wise mom swiftly whisked him away.
I'm sure every parent of a young child would have at least encountered this why-question once in a while if not many times... maybe yours is even the type who'll always ask you why till you almost lose it. Most of the time, I just can't keep up with my children's why's and I'll tell them, "Why? Because the sky is high and pigs can't fly!" Very rarely, I'll say, oh let's go check it out on the internet.
Tonight I was feeling cheeky... well, before you think I'm losing it again and comparing my son with another, nope.... I was really curious how a 5 year-old would react to such a why-question. So I posed the "red question" to my kindergartener.
"Bryan, why is red red?"
"Hmmm..." He thought for a split second, then he probed back, "Why is pink pink, Mommy?"
Hey... I think I just received a revelation: Bryan just gave me the reason why his friend asked that "red question". Don't we get it? Sometimes it's not about the answers. It's all about asking questions! Now this has certainly given me a new way to look at things. So kids, the next time you're gonna ask me another why-question, be prepared to have one thrown back at your face! They like it, to them it's just a game. :)
7 comments:
Good one Bryan! Future lawyer this one.
I'm sure we've had this discussion at home before. Brian probably said something about colours being absorbed and reflected blah blah. While I'm sure I went on about words being just names humans made up, red could have been called green, boy could have been girl.
Then did my usual philosophical BS with "and you know what, what you see as red may not be what I see as red...who knows...what I'm seeing as red you may see as my green...but we all know that colour as red." And we'll have a good laugh as they get all excited thinking up other examples.
When my mommy-friend was relating the incident, I was gonna say, well, red could have been called blue, or green or whatever you fancy. It's just a name! Yep... thinking about the arbitrary form to concept.
I think my friend's son would have been thrilled with your answer! You know, when kids ask these questions, they are generally not looking for the real answers... something I realised today! They just wanna talk, ask questions, get philosophical, and then like you clearly pointed out, laugh about being silly!
Wow, your Bryan. Getting quite profound, isn't he? But maybe he doesn't believe there's a real answer? You know 5yos, arrogant in their own world view until you show them.
Egocentrism is indeed a characteristic of a 5yo...
Sn funny... a moment after that he started describing to me about this colour machine that he's dreamt of.
wah, you all very cheem leh, I would have just said, "Because it's not blue."
Hmmm... maybe that's what Bryan's friend wanted to hear.
Anyway, with a 5yo, things change rapidly. I bet I'd get a drastically different response if I'd pop the same question of colour at him today.
Bryan is one quick kid! I love his answer... have to remember that for when ISabelle asks me the same question.
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