Elementary Physics for the Wee Lass

I don’t know where she gets it. Okay, maybe a little because I’m a geek. Still, her recall for such things is astounding.

Wee Lass and I were on our way to day care the other morning, a very cold day in the aftermath of the 8” of snow we had received earlier in the week. The sun was out, very brisk and the breeze was plucking leaves and bending needles. She was watching the trees go by and chattering away about leaves and trees and snow and ice. Then she paused, and said:

“Daddy, what’s that two word?”
“What word?”
“That two word.”
“Two word? Two word for what?”

Wee Lass sighs. In the rearview mirror, I can see her staring at me with the same look one gives harmless but annoying idiots when they obviously have demonstrated their idiocy. She didn’t roll her eyes, but I swear I heard an exasperated sigh.

“You ‘member, the two word. For the water to ice, ice to water.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Daddy! You know, when the ice changes to the water, or the snow to the ice…”

Huh?

“…or the water to mist…”

She chattered on for about another minute until it finally dawned on me. She was trying to remember “phase change”.

Jay-zus, at a time when I am lucky to remember my own name, or how not to get lost on the way to the liquor store, er, grocery store, my daughter is calling up physics terms! What is even more astounding, I know she heard me say that phrase once when I was trying to explain ice to her. I’m a dork like that, can’t look at ice without thinking of phase changes. And I wasn’t even all that interested in physics in my younger days.

But she heard me say it once. Once. And that was probably about two weeks prior to this day.

“You mean phase change, sweet pea?”
“Yes, Daddy, phr-, phff-…phrase change!” she said with a big smile. Then she proceeded to explain to me all the things that had phase changes, which included the aforementioned ice and water and mist. Then she said:

“…birds hatching and like seeds to flowers…”

“No, dear, seeds to flowers aren’t a…” then I caught myself. Seeds to flowers? While a seed turning into a flower isn’t exactly the strict definition of a phase change (I told you I am a dork), the idea behind it is similar: something undergoes a reorganization of itself and turns into something else. Pretty powerful stuff for such a young person to recognize.

I’ll have to keep an eye on that kid, she could be trouble later…