The Magic Clock
Every night we go through roughly the same routine. The Oldest will read to me for a while, then I will read to him. Once he is in bed, I will help The Wife clean the other three. My job is chief dryer and dresser, which mostly entails me playing with two kids while she gives a bath to the third.
Last night, The Car Buff discovered the digital clock. He has been learning his numbers, so he stood in front of it reading off the time. The conversation went something like this…
“Seven, five, seven. Look daddy two sevens! Two sevens!” “Thats right, two sevens.”
Then the time changed…
“Look daddy its an eight. Seven, five, eight! Good job typing eight daddy.” “I didn’t type eight. The time just changed. One minute went past.” “Where did you type at daddy?”
Then the time changed again…
“Seven, five, nine! Look daddy it says nine now. Good job daddy! Good job typing nine!” “I didn’t type nine, the time just changed.”
This was followed by The Car Buff spending a few moments poking the front of the clock trying to get it to change again.
“I’ll bet that next it will show you zero, zero.” “No, daddy it can’t show zero, zero next.”
Then the time changed again…
“Eight, zero, zero. How did you do that? How did you make it zero, zero daddy?”
By this point I had given up on explaining the concept of time, so I said what any good father would say…
“Magic!” “Good job daddy. Good magic.”
I wish I could still be so entertained and so amazed by something as simple as a digital clock.