The Extent of My Culture

I consider myself a woman of average intelligence, but venturing out with my grand kids does tend to cast doubt on that theory. Whenever we go to the zoo, museum or aquarium, one will inevitably ask me something that I won’t know the answer to and once again I’m made out to look like a total idiot! When we get to our favorite outings, I make it a point not to stand too close to the kids (or the ones that can TALK anyway) so I won’t have to respond to things like “why is the giraffe’s tongue black?” or “how long do hyenas live?” I tend to stick closer to the younger children. After all, I’m pretty safe being as the extent of their conversations are limited to “bye, bye bear” or “the lion goes rawrrr!”

I’ve tried standing in front of displays and attractions that I know I can provide intelligent answers to, should any questions arise about them. For instance, I do know the basics of what kind of dinosaur that is or which planet is Saturn, but heaven forbid if the grandson wants to see the next exhibition over called How Well Do You Know Our Solar System? I tried acting like I was hard of hearing one time so my granddaughter wouldn’t ask me anything in earshot of real honest to goodness ‘smart’ people. (It was only when the curator came over and began doing sign language to How Our Earth Began that I dropped the act).

At the end of the day, their thought provoking questions always seem to stir up the same response in me. I’m just not sure if “Well, if YOU don’t know then I’m CERTAINLY not going to TELL you” is any way to talk to a kid.

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