Friday, May 01, 2009

The Isles of WHAT?

I was taking my daughter to the bus stop this morning, and we noticed a lot of tree debris on the ground. She asked me what it was for and I explained how trees and bushes grew. Then she asked me how trees and bushes lost branches, and I explained that too, mentioning termites and vines, etc., commenting that vines were parasites. She asked me what a parasite was, and I explained, using termites as examples of symbiosis, as opposed to vines and tapeworms which were parasites. After I explained what tapeworms were, she compared them to diabetes. I explained how they were different, that tapeworms steal food before you eat it (sort of), but diabetes is the body's inability to produce some needed substance to use food properly.

"Insulin," she says.

"Yes," I reply. "It's produced by some cells on the spleen, I think."

"No," she says, "It's the pancreas. They're called the Isles of Langerhans. I read about them in one of my Muse magazines."

My daughter is 8.

8 comments:

Gayle Carline said...

If she's talking like this at 8, Dude, you're in soooo much trouble.

Gayle
http://gaylecarline.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

You have no idea, how much trouble Marc is in. His kids are pretty dang smart, all of them.

This is a really cute story. This one is the only one I have not met, right?

Karen
http://klsyed.com

Legendary Lights said...

The Isles of what?

Pam
http://beaconstreetbooks.com

Mary Cunningham said...

Marc, Marc (shaking head). You are in deep trouble, man.

I echo, Pam. Isles of WHAT??

Mary
http://www.cynthiasattic.blogspot.com

Teresa Burrell, Author, Attorney, Advocate said...

What a delightful child! You lucky man. T

Author Guy said...

Yes, Karen, you met Julia at South Carolina and James in Chicago. Sarah is just itching for the chance to do this stuff too.

Author Guy said...

Gayle, she's reading your book right now.

Gayle Carline said...

My book - Does she even know who Dean Martin was?

She sounds precocious (in the good way). I had one, too. Now he's 16 and just smart-alecky. But he reads well.

Have a great weekend.
Gayle
http://gaylecarline.blogspot.com