Why?..

Some studies suggest that a child can focus on something for as many minutes as is double to their age.

Nicole is going to be three years old next month. However, her speech ability and vocabulary is more like a mini adult. My husband and I always try to speak to her normally like to another adult; obviously with a much slower pace. We believe that the more you speak to her as we would to another adult, she will be able to communicate better. She does. And so much more.

Driving home from the nursery today, she asked, "Where's daddy, mummy?"
"Daddy's at work, babe"
"Why?"
"Because Daddy has to work"
"Why?"
"Because Daddy has to earn some money for us"
"Why?"
"To buy your milk? And chicken? And pasta?"
"Why?"
"So that we can eat"
"Why?"
"Well, ... (hmmm, think!..) if we don't eat, we'll get hungry, sweetheart"
"Why?"

???
Half a minute...

"You don't like to be hungry, do you Nicole?"

A glance through the rear view mirror showed that she was mesmerized by a huge pigeon perching on the electricity cable.

"Mummy.... a bird.. a bird..!"
"Yes, darling, it's a big bird, isn't it?"

The question and answer lasted about 5 minutes. Almost the end of her attention span. And I was still thinking of the answer to her last question.