Friday, March 28, 2008

taste sensation

It's been my experience that as soon as kids go to school, their parents become completely ignorant, and no longer possess any worthwhile knowledge. All wisdom previously considered the domain of their parents is magically transferred to the teacher. Nothing you can say as a parent will budge your child from this viewpoint.

My daughter, Laura, seems most affected by this transition. Her teacher, Mrs M, has achieved the status of some sort of deity, and every word she utters is the gospel truth. Once, when I dared to dispute what Mrs M had said regarding a medical matter, I was howled down by my daughter, as she wailed tearily, "But Mrs M said so". Mrs M is an experienced and excellent teacher, and seems very switched-on, but as a mother and doctor, I felt entitled to correct the minor mistruth. It seems I was out of line. Mrs M rules supreme.

It was with great amusement, and a sense of pride in my questioning son, that I overheard the following conversation:

Laura: "Mrs Marshall says that you should keep trying foods you don't like to eat. She says if you eat something you don't like every day for two weeks, then your tastebuds will adjust, and you'll start to like the food."

Ben looked sceptical. There was a brief pause.

Ben: "So...... what about if you tried to eat poo every day for two weeks?"

(I couldn't wipe the grin off my face)

19 comments:

Michelle said...

Move that son of yours up a grade!!!! He is too clever!!

As a future teacher I look forward to having 30 kids think I am some sort of "Supreme Being"!! it will be just at the time my own 3 will start to doubt most of what I have been telling them for so long!!

Heather said...

I think Ben takes after his mum! :-)

fifi said...

ha ha HAH!

thats exactly what my son would have said.
I just read that out to my daughter and she laughed too.

thisisme said...

I love Ben - what a glorious comment. My brother would have said something like that - he is the one that told his grade four teacher that Rodin's "Thinker" was thinking about where he left his clothes.

John Cowart said...

Yes, for now the teacher's words reign supreme. Be sure to save all the kids baby photos so you can show them to their friends when they get to be teenagers. The chief duty of parents is to embarrass those kids.
Revenge is sweet.

rel said...

Jellhead,
That is so hilarious that I'm off to work chuckling all the way and I'll repeat your story inumerable times at work just to brighten everyone's day.
On the flip side, imagine the tremendous responsibility of a teacher to know everything about everything....whoosh...not me thank you. I waited and when my kids got to be your age I suddenly got much smarter. ;)
rel

Stomper Girl said...

Sheesh! No flies on him, although there would be if he does...try to ...eat ...poo ....for 2 weeks... I guess.

Susan Tidwell said...

Classic! Good job, Ben!

That sounds like a question for the all-knowing Ms. M.

Alipurr said...

eww. Your Ben is sooo funny. I wouldn't eat poo for 2 weeks. Hey, I got an idea...figure out what you want your children to do/know...i.e. you have to brushe your teeth for 2 or 3 minutes or some other thing they resist you on, & get Mrs. M to tell the children it is a good idea....
:)

Nestor Family said...

Ben is the best! That cracked me up!

My older one comes home from kindergarten touting what his teacher knows AND what his friends know... and I had better not question any of it! The bad thing is that I like to prove that I am right... poor guy... or else he will grow up to be a great debator!

meggie said...

Burst out laughing! Sometimes you just have to love a male's sense of reality!

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...

Ben is so funny & clever. I laugh each time I think about what he said to Laura. I bet he doesn't think his teacher is a the supreme deity of knowledge who knows everything...at least not yet.

You brought back some long forgotten memories of this exact same thing about everything the teacher says being gospel and written in stone.

meli said...

i once adored my primary school teacher so much that i named my pet mouse after him. mr hepworth. he was brown and white and very cute. the mouse, that is, i'm not sure what i saw in the teacher...

Mackey said...

Way to go Ben!
He can ask Mrs.M that question when he gets to her grade:)

Mimi said...

Sounds like Ben would fit in perfectly at our house!

Mimi

Kerri said...

He's a great thinker, that Ben....a match for Mrs. M any day. I hope someday he'll be in her class, and if so, I have a request: Could you please take a photo or two of her expressions when he asks his questions? Ha ha. If only it were possible :)
It is rather embarrassing to suddenly become so ignorant, isn't it? But never mind, you'll eventually adjust...after all, it goes on for at least 13 more years! Maybe more :)

TUFFENUF said...

Soon, as in the case with my son, the teachers will be stupid with everyone else in the world, except the teenagers! Ben sounds like a delightfully witty young man!

Alice said...

I hope there will always be plenty of food in your pantry and fridge. I'd hate the children to have to put the challenge to the test.

I'm not sure when parents become knowledgable again - I think it's when the child needs money!

Dr Andrew Brown said...

I'm sure you know the related quote from Mark Twain: "When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years."