Level Three. How?
Level Three – How?
By Michelle Lloyd.
How was an interesting question. Little Herbert liked it though because it usually came with an explanation as for how… for example if he needed to understand the finer workings of a train and how it got him to where he had to be then he could read up about trains and if he liked a particular time from history then a quick bit of research would often given him an insight not only about what people did but also what their motivation for doing so was and it intrigued him.
How was a question that Little Herbert used often, loud and proud, was he in acquainting himself with explanations about this or that.
It was on one outing that Little Herbert decided to raise the How question and he chose a bit of an odd time to do it. Out was he with his Dad and when on seeing a pregnant lady he needed an explanation for it, out came he with a most dreaded question for a certain someone who had been with him. Little Herbert’s Dad had always been most forthcoming with answers as for how but in this particular example the how was not followed by a quick or lengthy response. Usually Little Herbert felt that his Dad and he bonded over a bit of how is this like it is or how is that like that but not this time. Instead of answering Little Herbert he made some very odd and strange noises as if he was going to start to speak but then ended up simply shaking his head again and again. Little Herbert could not work out what was going on so he asked his question of how once again, only this time a little louder just in case his Dad had not properly understood him. This time many in the library turned to look at them and Little Herbert believed they may also want to hear an explanation as for how but while this was plausible what happened next was a mystery to him as his Dad rushed him, rather rudely he thought, out of the library.
It was only when they were safely out of the building that Little Herbert’s Dad proceeded with an explanation as for how that lady had been pregnant and it was not at all as he had thought. There was a lot of love involved he was told, there had been a fairy and a bit of praying and then a baby had been put into the lady’s tummy by a somewhat miraculous and unrealistic, or so Little Herbert decided, means of baby appearance. He gave his Dad an extremely unsure look and then asked if him that was really the explanation behind the how…
In the end Little Herbert’s Dad had to take them back into the same library and an age appropriate book was taken out which explained exactly in biological terms and plant like imagery how pregnancies took place.
It was a lot for Little Herbert to take in and certainly the explanation was more than what his usual questions of how received. It had been an education though and while Little Herbert’s learning had improved his knowledge, he also felt that his Dad may have gained in an experience about how to handle his question of how, it had been a useful life lesson for parent and child.