Finding Answers

Anna and Google are tight. Any question she has, Google has the answer. And, in our world, Google is not just a noun, but also a verb.

We were baking this morning. Well, not exactly baking. It was a chocolate cream pie that required no baking. Anyway, one of the ingredients was evaporated milk. That got her to thinking.

“Why is this called ‘evaporated’ milk?” she asked as she poured out a liquid that was obviously not evaporated. You got me. “Google it,” I suggested.

Later, after the pie was chilling in the refrigerator, we shared a couple of oranges. She’s a healthy eater. I could take lessons. Anyway, she started talking about vitamin C. She asked why it was so important. “Scurvy!” I said confidently. “So you won’t get scurvy!” Anna started singing a snappy little tune about scurvy. “Sponge Bob?” I asked. She grinned. Her knowledge of scurvy begins and ends with Sponge Bob.

But really, what’s scurvy? “Sailors used to get it a lot,” I said. But honestly, what do I know about the link between scurvy and vitamin C? Not much. However, I, too, know where to find the answer.  I found a very informative piece on Wikipedia giving me more detail than I really needed to know, including a picture. I think I’m going to up my intake of vitamin C. Anna isn’t satisfied, though. She is now planning to research all the vitamins through “E.” She’ll get to the others later.

I had also recommended online research to her yesterday as we were watching The Twilight Zone marathon on the Syfy channel. There was an episode in which the children were playing Kick the Can. “So, what exactly is Kick the Can?” she asked me. “It doesn’t even sound fun.”

I’ve never played that game, so I directed her to the internet. I hope she tells me how to play because I’m a little curious, too.

Before we folded and got her a dog, she did her online research. She determined the breed she wanted, how to care for said breed, and the benefits of having a dog. She did a research paper in fourth grade that doubled as a plea to us. It worked. Her research and brilliant writing dazzled us, and before we knew what had happened, I was getting up twice a night to take a puppy out to pee.

She’s such a curious kid, and I hope she always has questions. And I also really hope that she is diligent enough to seek the answers. Sometimes those answers will come from Mark and me, or from her teachers, or from books. But when we fail, there is always the internet. Not always fail-safe, and not always correct, but she knows how to find the legitimate sites. She’s a savvy girl.