Since my imminent meltdown was appeased by your comments regarding Finje not yet being able to write her name, I was wondering if I could be so bold as to call on your wisdom again?
Last week, we enjoyed the hospitality of two wonderful friends who live "Down South" in Nürnburg, I'll call them Mr and Mrs O. Mrs O is a Kiwi and Mr O a German so we have a lot in common.
Mr O is a GP in a family practice. With Finje's obsession for all things medical, he was kind enough to give her some hands-on experience. He pronounced her Doctor's Assistant and took her off to work, whilst Mrs O and I fired up the coffee machine for a child-free morning of English speaking catch-up.
Finje returned from "work" early afternoon. Having practiced my Jedi mind tricks all morning, willing her to be well behaved, I pounced on Mr O, demanding to know if she had managed to keep her nose clean. He assured me that not only had she done just that but provided me with a list of her achievements. These included:
"Helping" to take blood
Watching twins get their immunisations
Using a stethoscope
Listened to the blood pressure machine
Learning how to bandage
Injecting oranges
Taking temperatures....
...the list went on and she did indeed have the rosy glow of a child excited.
Over lunch, I, spitting in the face of past experiences with this line of questioning, couldn't resist any longer.
"So Fin, did you have fun this morning with the doctor's? It must have been so interesting. You must have seen so many cool things and met lots of new people. I wish I had had the chance to do all those things when I was your age, I would have loved it. Mr O has told me a little bit. He said you helped taking blood and giving injections. That's so cool!"
Pause for breath.
"What was the best thing then?"
Now you time-honoured parents will already be shaking your heads in wonder at my naivety / stupidity and you will express no surprise whatsoever at my daughter's response.
"Erm" (at least she had the decency to pretend to put a modicum of thought into her answer),
"I had lots of Gummi Bears"
Is it me or is it impossible to get a decent answer from a four year old?