So, three days a week my oldest son goes to fencing. I usually drive him there and my husband picks him up. Often, it's just the two of us in the car. You know all those parenting experts who tell you that the car is a good place to have a conversation with your child? Well, clearly, they are right, but does it always have to be at such an existential level? Along with a dose of almost twelve-year-old know-it-all-ness?!Today's conversation revolved around my son wanting to find a technological way to make people immortal and how that would work in terms of population control (they have just read The Giver at school, so there was a whole side conversation about "releasing."). Then he moved on to tell me that "sometimes I wonder why we're all here, anyway. Is it just to work? I mean, what are we doing here?" Finally, because they are reading Animal Farm at school, we moved on to a conversation about the nuances of totalitarianism and dictators--how they rule through fear, but is that the case in North Korea, where the people are kind of brainwashed into "loving" the "dear leader."
All of this in a span of about 20 minutes, which I spend trying to play the devil's advocate with his positions because he always has such pronouncements to make about his ideas.
Sometimes, it's a release for my brain when we get there and he goes in to practice! Although, I do prefer these conversations to the ones about Minecraft!
Luckily, my husband and I share the car duty, so while I relax at home with a glass of wine, he can delve into the mysteries of the world for his 20 minutes!
It sounds like some wonderful car conversation. Just wondering, do you give your husband a heads up on the conversation?
ReplyDeleteUsually I do! Although, tonight I was so tired from it that I had to just sit in silence on the way home! :)
DeleteSo wonderful to hear them come to terms with big ideas. Exhausting, but fun!
ReplyDeleteWhat interesting conversations! Your son sounds very thoughtful and intelligent. Even though those are tough conversations, you should be proud he is trying so hard to build his own ideas about the world!
ReplyDeleteHoly cow! Your son is quite the conversationalist/deep thinker. I think most of my best conversations with my sons occurred in the car. Not sure, however, that many of them were quite this deep. Pretty amazing!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like he really ponders the books he reads and thinks about the repercussions of what would happen if...
ReplyDeleteFrom your writing it seems that he is a great critical thinker. You and your husband are doing a great job.
I suspect that your child is thinking big because you have encouraged him to do so....how wonderful!
ReplyDelete