by Conny Manero

Created on: June 07, 2008

Kids ... they have the weirdest sense of perception.

Those who have them all know that kids can be a blessing. They enrich our lives from the moment they are born and continue to give us joy and pried thoughout the years.
However, they can also be, if we are honest, a bit of a pain. They lie or exchagurate and sometimes, unintentonally, they lead us astray.
They see and experience things differently than adults.

What we perceive as small, they might perceive as big; what we experience as easy, they might experience as difficult. Nothing is the same for two people and kids usually have their own take on life.

Take my son for instance. He is 28, and his perception of time and temperature is rather unique. When I ask him to do something, I invariably get one of the following responses:

In a second
In a minute
Just now
Later
I will get to it

These statements, although full of promise, cover a broad spectrum of time.

In a second - means within the next five minutes.
In a minute - means within the hour.
Just now - this means he will do this or that, after he is finished with what he is doing at the time.
Later - this can be today, tomorrow, before the end of the week ?
I will get to it - oh dear, that one is trouble; this statement can reach as far as next year.

My son is equally sloppy with temperatures. Living in a condo, I have no real sense for the weather conditions.
As such, I used to ask my son "What is it like outside?" I do not ask him that question anymore, as it repeatedly lands me in trouble.

If he says it is nice, it is actually chilly.
If he says that it is chilly, it is actually cold.
And, if he says it is cold well then, it is so cold it would, (as the British say): "Freeze the balls off a brass monkey!"

And do you think he does any better with the heat? Forget it. I cannot rely on him there either.

If he says it is nice, it is actually warm.
If he says it is warm, it is actually hot.
And if he says it is hot well, then, it is so hot the birds are falling out of the trees.

Now, let me explain to you about rain. Just last Saturday I was fooled again.
"What is it like out there?" I asked my son.
"Oh, it's nice but it's drizzling," came the casual reply.
I should have known better. I should have known, after all these years, that my son cannot be relied upon for such information. But I decided to take a chance. I decided to believe him and well, I got wet.

When I got downstairs and outside it was not nice, it was cold; and it was not drizzling, it was raining. Of course, I did not have an umbrella.

My son offered to go back upstairs and get one.
"It will only take a minute," he said.
Good Lord, no, I thought.

With his perception of time, who knew when I was going to see him again?

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