When I moved to Japan I got convinced that moving to another country will, like nothing else, make you see things you have never seen, think about things you have never thought about, experience things you would never dream of experiencing. And I was stuck in that belief until I became a dad. Since then, I have time and time again been surprised by what my son is showing me about the world and about myself, and as he is growing I am more and more looking forward to what thoughts he will share next.
Pappa, why does the flamingo stand on one leg? The question came out of nowhere as we were walking home from the kindergarten bus. Seeing the image of flamingos in my mind, I felt almost ashamed that I had never wondered about that myself. It is a really good question, I said. What is a good question, my son asked. That is something you can say when you don’t know the answer, I said.
During snack-time we focused on the flamingos. I asked if they had talked about flamingos today at kindergarten. No, said my son. Why did you think of flamingos today? I asked. I was just wondering why they stand on one leg, my son said. We have to look it up, I answered. A little bit of googling later, we decided that the flamingoes stand on one leg to save them from getting too cold and tired. My son seemed satisfied with the answer but I continued to be curious as to why this question suddenly had arisen. Come night, and my son suddenly collected all Barbapapa-books that we haven’t read in a long time. He put them on the bed and looked through them one by one. Seeing that I remembered the image when Barbapapa was living in the zoo, trying to connect with the animals, transforming himself into a flamingo.
I went to bed wondering what image first came to my son today, the flamingo on one leg or Barbapapa at the zoo. When we woke up he asked me pappa why do wolves howl?
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