Understanding Human

While visiting my friend, we'll call her 'E' for short, my oldest daughter who is 6 asked a question that stumped me. Well, most of her questions stump me only because I try to explain things to her without giving too much detail. Ex. How do babies get in your tummy? Do they just POP out? I don't know how to answer those questions but I do the best I can.

Thank goodness this wasn't a personal type question or have to do with any bodily functions. Let me start at the beginning. My friend is moving to another state and we were at her house to see her before she left. You have to understand that my friend has a soft spot for animals and if someone gives her one, she gladly accepts it. She has a dog that she is taking with her and now she has acquired a new cat. The girls wanted to see that cat so 'E' brought the cat into the kitchen. She sat down on the floor with Felix (BTW that's the cat) on her lap and invited the girls to pet it. This action also invited her dog Fritz to pester the cat as well. Felix was very calm and ignored Fritz as he tried his hardest to get its attention.

My girls stood in front of her laughing as Fritz tried to root Felix out of her lap. 'E' looked at Fritz and told him to stop or sit down, I can't remember which, and he dog obeyed. Amazed and giggling A1 asked "How can he understand Human?"

What 6 year old asks that question? I've often wondered that myself but it probably wasn't until I was older that I had deep thought like that. It may not seem so deep to us but for a 6 year old to look at a dog and wonder how they can understand our commands takes a little profound thinking. This in turn got me pondering the same question. I guess I'll have to do some research to see what the experts say.

I answered her question with the best possible answer I had at that time. With an "I don't know, that's a good question honey." Would it be that same as when we speak to babies? This is a rhetorical question. They don't understand us when they are newborns but they learn as they grow. Maybe it's the same as when we as humans try to learn another language. It sounds foreign to us - because it is!

Anyway. We got a laugh out of it. If only I had video camera rolling at that precise moment in time I could have captured the sound of her tiny little girl voice jumping with giggles as she thoughtfully asked that question. Yes. It was worth writing down.