Recently, my 4 year old has started bombarding me with questions. There’s the usual, “When can I go to school?” “Why do I have to put my cars away?” “Can I go swimming?” But there are also the, “How many days in the month of January?” “What does excellent mean?” And I am spelling. Everything. Not just spelling it, but making the sounds. It’s like phonics 101 over here on a daily basis. I’m a bit of a trivia head, so I try to be as accurate in my explanations as possible. So when my child says, “Mom, what dinosaur is this?” (It was a Dracorex) and “How many toes does an alligator have?” (18) I blanked. Ummm. Hmm.
Enter the real parenting MVP’s…my robotic personal assistants; Siri and Alexa. Before these wonderful inventions came about, I would have had to schlep to the library, kids in tow, to research this information, because now that he’s asked, I want to know too.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good library. But, with the simple push of a little button and a quick, “Hey Siri” I have a wealth of information at my fingertips, and I can verify if it’s accurate. What a time to be alive. So, when my kid asked today, “Mom, how many swimming pools are there in the world?” Rather than saying “A lot” I was able to say, “Let’s ask Siri” (We had to refine that question a bit; according to Google answers, there are 10.4 million residential pools, and 309,000 public pools in the US; just in case you were wondering.)
Now, it’s his favorite game. But, I’ve found if I don’t limit the questions, he’s yelling at my watch all day. We’ve come to an agreement (and learned about compromise). He picks 3 questions he feels I won’t be able to answer, or words he doesn’t think I can spell, and he gets to ask Siri or Alexa. It’s a win win. He’s happy, using his big brain to try to stump me and my robot assistant, and we are both learning something along the way. Last question of the day, “How many different kinds of cows are there?”
I don’t know, kid. But I’m sure Siri will tell us.
What’s the craziest question one of your kiddos has ever asked? Tell me in the comments, I want to laugh with you!
**Also, if you’re ever wondering what to make for dinner, and you have Alexa on your television or other device, ask her to show you the “Recipes of the Day.” You will be immediately hungry.
