Perplexed

The boy busted out some sidewalk chalk this morning, and asked to go color with it outside. We told him he couldn't really color on the sidewalk because it's very cold and wet and there's snow outside, but I brought out his Ikea* art easel that's been put away for several months because he didn't have much of an interest in it at the time.

He drew some pictures and I asked if he would like a wet cloth to clean the chalk off so he could draw new pictures. He said, yes please (because he has been very polite lately).

I grabbed a white wash cloth and dampened it and brought it over to him. He wiped the chalk board, and then looked confused, and looked at the part of the cloth that he had been using to wipe the board. I knew exactly what he was thinking--he was wondering how the white cloth that didn't have black paint on it made the board black again. Not just black, but really black. Darker than the parts he hadn't wiped! He continued to wipe the board off and occasionally look at the washcloth, perplexed. He said, mama, it makes it black. I thought about explaining that it was really just taking the chalk off and leaving black board behind, but he'll figure it out soon enough. In the mean time, it's fun to watch him wonder.


*I chose to specifically mention that the easel was from Ikea and link to their site because compared to catalogs from other stories (like JC Penney, Target), their catalog is far more gender neutral and doesn't make me want to vomit from stereotype poisoning. The boys and girls in an Ikea catalog play with all the toys, and I do not feel blinded by pinky pinks and bluesy blues. Men are shown cooking and holding babies. I feel dirty after I look at catalogs from other stores.  

Also, they have a great selection of toys that have grown with my child because they are open-ended (i.e. the child is an active part of the play experience rather than being passively entertained). These toys don't require batteries. And they are reasonably priced. He still plays with the trains I started buying him when he was 18 months old, the stacking cups I got him when he was 2, and pretty much any other toy I've ever bought him from this retailer.