Saturday, October 23, 2004
Out of the mouths of babes...
I love interviews. People are endlessly fascinating, and I enjoy hearing someone talk about what matters to him, what makes him tick. Interviews can reveal as much about the person asking the questions as the person anwering them, and I sometimes find myself tuning into the interviewer's subtext more than to anything the interviewee has to say. In my opinion, good interviews educate and entertain us, and great interviews elicit a deeper awareness of our common humanity.
Max received a raft of presents for his birthday. The assortment of large dinosaurs, the elephant that blows paper butterflies out its trunk, and his first Cranium board game became instant favorites with Max. Other presents languish already on the closet shelf, emerging only for occasional use. But one of Max's presents stands out not only because of its popularity with Max, but also with me.
It's a microphone. Red and yellow plastic. Remarkably effective at magnifying sound. Not a battery or electrical cord in sight. Amplifies purely by virtue of its design. Pretty cool.
Around our house, we use the microphone in two ways. With a step stool as his stage, Max employs the mike to perform one-man shows of songs and motivational speaking. I use the microphone to conduct interviews with Max. I've discovered that interviewing Max is a practical and delightful way to learn what's been registering with him lately. Some day, when Max becomes the interviewer, I imagine it will be illuminating to see what kinds of questions he asks me. For now, though, I'm the initiator, and Max, being three, is an uninhibited respondent. Here's the content of our interview this evening:
Max, what is your favorite thing to do?
Eat.
What is your favorite thing to eat?
Apples. Apples and pears and oranges.
What is your favorite color?
White.
What is your favorite thing to do at school?
Read books and take naps. (Naps?? Ha!)
Who is your favorite teacher?
Mrs. Foltz.
What is your favorite thing to do at the ranch?
Ride the tricky trike. (The tricky trike is an antique tricycle with metal tires that used to be "decor." Now Max has returned it to its original purpose.)
What is your favorite thing to do at the farm? (meaning at Ronnie Nettles' place, where we keep the horses)
See all the horses and different animals.
What is your favorite thing to do at the zoo?
See all the zoo animals.
What is your favorite thing to do with Babee?
Build things, like my house.
What is your favorite thing to do with me?
(Silence. Max looked at me, quizically, as if this might be a trick question. How many hours a day do I spend with him, and Max cannot come up with any answer to this question? This bothers me. A lot. We're going to work on this.)
What is your favorite thing to with Daddy?
Play outside with the tennis ball on the string. (With a piece of string and duct tape, Lee has suspended a tennis ball from the patio ceiling so that Max can practice forehands with his new racquet.)
What is your favorite thing to do with Boo?
Crawling.
What is your favorite thing to do with Karen? (our housekeeper Araceli's daughter)
I don't like to share.
You don't like to share? So what is your favorite thing to do with Karen?
Pushing.
What is your favorite television show?
The Wiggles. And Dora and Blues Clues.
Where is your favorite place to go to sleep?
In my room.
What is your favorite animal?
Lions. And tigers. Rrrrrrrrrrr!!!
What is your favorite part of your body?
My penis.
Max received a raft of presents for his birthday. The assortment of large dinosaurs, the elephant that blows paper butterflies out its trunk, and his first Cranium board game became instant favorites with Max. Other presents languish already on the closet shelf, emerging only for occasional use. But one of Max's presents stands out not only because of its popularity with Max, but also with me.
It's a microphone. Red and yellow plastic. Remarkably effective at magnifying sound. Not a battery or electrical cord in sight. Amplifies purely by virtue of its design. Pretty cool.
Around our house, we use the microphone in two ways. With a step stool as his stage, Max employs the mike to perform one-man shows of songs and motivational speaking. I use the microphone to conduct interviews with Max. I've discovered that interviewing Max is a practical and delightful way to learn what's been registering with him lately. Some day, when Max becomes the interviewer, I imagine it will be illuminating to see what kinds of questions he asks me. For now, though, I'm the initiator, and Max, being three, is an uninhibited respondent. Here's the content of our interview this evening:
Max, what is your favorite thing to do?
Eat.
What is your favorite thing to eat?
Apples. Apples and pears and oranges.
What is your favorite color?
White.
What is your favorite thing to do at school?
Read books and take naps. (Naps?? Ha!)
Who is your favorite teacher?
Mrs. Foltz.
What is your favorite thing to do at the ranch?
Ride the tricky trike. (The tricky trike is an antique tricycle with metal tires that used to be "decor." Now Max has returned it to its original purpose.)
What is your favorite thing to do at the farm? (meaning at Ronnie Nettles' place, where we keep the horses)
See all the horses and different animals.
What is your favorite thing to do at the zoo?
See all the zoo animals.
What is your favorite thing to do with Babee?
Build things, like my house.
What is your favorite thing to do with me?
(Silence. Max looked at me, quizically, as if this might be a trick question. How many hours a day do I spend with him, and Max cannot come up with any answer to this question? This bothers me. A lot. We're going to work on this.)
What is your favorite thing to with Daddy?
Play outside with the tennis ball on the string. (With a piece of string and duct tape, Lee has suspended a tennis ball from the patio ceiling so that Max can practice forehands with his new racquet.)
What is your favorite thing to do with Boo?
Crawling.
What is your favorite thing to do with Karen? (our housekeeper Araceli's daughter)
I don't like to share.
You don't like to share? So what is your favorite thing to do with Karen?
Pushing.
What is your favorite television show?
The Wiggles. And Dora and Blues Clues.
Where is your favorite place to go to sleep?
In my room.
What is your favorite animal?
Lions. And tigers. Rrrrrrrrrrr!!!
What is your favorite part of your body?
My penis.
1 Comments:
Oh. My. How very funny. Maybe Max did see your question about his favorite thing to do with you as a trick question, or a riddle, or a koan. Maybe there's something developmental involved with this, having to do with his attachment to you?
And his favorite part of his body is his penis. Well. Yes. He is definitely a boy. Was that the end of the interview?
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