睡前跟娃儿唠嗑。
我突然对他说：
“我觉得，我们可能认识几百年了。
要不然，我们怎么会对对方这么了解。
你以前肯定帮过我很多忙。
谢谢你找到我，现在当我的儿子。”
他说完，没有反驳。
反而顺着我的话，开始认真思考时间线。
他问我：
“恐龙是哪个时期？”
我一愣。
……我也不知道。
心里还想着：
明天得问问 ChatGPT。
结果他自己接上了：
“那我们应该在石器时期就认识了。”
我直接愣住。
石器时期？？？
这么生僻的词他怎么知道的。
然后他又开始自言自语：
“那应该是石器时代（stone age），我就认识你了。”
我俩对视了一秒。
然后——
一起笑疯。
我说：
“行，那我明天问问 ChatGPT 石器时代是哪一年，
就知道我们认识多久了。”
有一天，他突然问我：
“你知不知道爱因斯坦？”
我一脸自信：
“知道啊，你幼儿园还拿过爱因斯坦奖呢。”
他完全忘了。
我心想，得把照片翻出来给他看看。
我补了一句：
“那时候你在班上科学最好，老师给你颁的。”
他说了一堆东西。
我没太听懂。
但我听到了一个词：
physics。
我心里一紧：
……物理我知道一点。
我得接住这个球。
于是我问他：
“你知道苹果定律吗？”
其实——
我也不知道自己在说什么。
他立刻来了精神：
“没听过！”
我赶紧补一个问题撑住场面：
“一颗苹果从天上掉下来，
和一颗苹果从树上掉下来，
哪个砸到人更痛？”
他秒答：
“肯定是天上掉下来的更痛！”
我问：
“为什么？”
（其实我自己也不知道为什么）
他开始一本正经地解释：
“因为空气啊，还有什么物理啊……”
我听得一半懂一半不懂。
但气势很足。
我立刻接一句：
“你也太厉害了吧！这都知道！”
他开心到不行。
第二天我有空，回想前一天的对话。
突然意识到——
那哪是什么爱因斯坦的“苹果定律”，
那是牛顿。
跟爱因斯坦一点关系都没有。
难怪他说没听过。
……
得找机会给他“悄悄纠正一下”。
昨天他又问我：
“你听过爱迪生吗？”
我这次稳住了：
“听过，就是发明灯泡的。”
他眼睛一亮。
终于找到了和妈妈的共同话题。
激动地说：
“你知道吗？他还发明了很多机器！”
我点点头：
“哦，这样啊。”
那一刻——
我脑子里其实闪过一堆关于爱迪生的“黑料”。
但我没说。
人家好不容易对科学有点兴趣。
我决定——
先保护他的好奇心。
至于世界的复杂，
以后慢慢再说。
婷妈的亲子日常 创作于 2026.04.2
原创发布： tingtingma.com
写给孩子，也写给正在成长的大人。
未经授权，请勿转载。
Tingma’s Parenting Diary | #222 We’ve Probably Known Each Other for Hundreds of Years
A little bedtime chat with my son.
Out of nowhere, I said to him:
“I feel like we’ve probably known each other for hundreds of years.
Otherwise, how could we understand each other so well?
You must have helped me a lot in a previous life.
Thank you for finding me and becoming my son.”
He didn’t argue.
Instead, he followed my thought—and started seriously thinking about the timeline.
He asked:
“What time period were the dinosaurs in?”
I froze.
…Honestly, I had no idea.
I was even thinking to myself:
I’ll have to ask ChatGPT tomorrow.
But before I could say anything, he continued:
“Then we must have known each other in the Stone Age.”
I was completely stunned.
The Stone Age???
How does he even know a word like that?
Then he started talking to himself again:
“So it must be the Stone Age—I already knew you back then.”
We looked at each other for a second.
And then—
Burst out laughing.
I said:
“Alright then, tomorrow I’ll ask ChatGPT what year the Stone Age was,
and we’ll figure out how long we’ve known each other.”
One day, he suddenly asked me:
“Do you know Einstein?”
I answered confidently:
“Of course! You even got an ‘Einstein Award’ in preschool.”
He had completely forgotten.
I made a mental note to find the photo for him.
I added:
“You were the best at science in your class back then. That’s why your teacher gave you that award.”
He then started saying a bunch of things.
I didn’t fully understand.
But I caught one word:
physics.
My heart skipped a beat.
…Okay, physics—I know a little.
I need to keep up with him.
So I asked:
“Do you know the apple law?”
To be honest—
I had no idea what I was talking about.
He immediately got excited:
“No!”
I quickly came up with a question to keep the conversation going:
“If an apple falls from the sky,
and another apple falls from a tree,
which one would hurt more if it hit someone?”
Without hesitation, he said:
“The one falling from the sky!”
I asked:
“Why?”
(Truth is, I didn’t know either.)
He started explaining very seriously:
“Because of air… and physics… and stuff…”
I understood about half of it.
But his confidence was impressive.
So I said:
“You’re amazing! You even know that!”
He was absolutely thrilled.
The next day, when I had some time,
I thought back to our conversation.
And suddenly it hit me—
That wasn’t anything related to Einstein.
That was Newton.
Nothing to do with Einstein at all.
No wonder he said he had never heard of it.
…
I’ll have to find a way to gently correct him.
Yesterday, he asked me again:
“Have you heard of Edison?”
This time, I stayed calm:
“Yes—the one who invented the light bulb.”
His eyes lit up.
Finally, he found a topic we both knew.
Excited, he said:
“Did you know he also invented a lot of other machines?”
I nodded:
“Oh, really?”
At that moment—
A lot of “controversial stories” about Edison flashed through my mind.
But I didn’t say anything.
He had finally developed an interest in science.
I decided—
to protect his curiosity first.
As for the complexity of the world,
we’ll talk about that slowly, later.
Some conversations don’t need a perfect answer.
The connection in that moment matters more.
Tingma’s Parenting Diary
Written on April 2, 2026
Originally published at: tingtingma.com
Written for my child, and for the adults who are still growing.
Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.
Originally written in Chinese by the author.
This English version was translated with the assistance of ChatGPT.