Deductive Reasoning

This morning, being a usual morning, found "team Flete" involved in mega rush mode as we dressed, scarfed down breakfast and raced to the car. Jordan and Julia counted down to "take-off" as I wrestled the Landcruiser from the tight parking spot where it had been nestled and I somehow managed to avoid hitting all the meteorites (vehicles) and aliens (people) on my way to the Third Avenue bridge.

The kids had finally settled into reading the assortment of shop signs, billboards and street signs on my way down Lexington Avenue on the way to HSA3. Suddenly Julia tapped me on the shoulder and asks in a clear and unwavering voice, "Mommy, what's a nuva-ring?" Now, my inclination was to turn the radio up louder and pretend that I didn't hear my five-year-old ask me about a method of birth control but decided against my better judgement and opted for the standard hard-of-hearing mother response, "What was that, dear?" Julia is the type of child that every parent covets and fears having at the same time. She is energetic, articulate, bright, assertive and stubborn as a bull. She is relentless in her pursuit of answers and this, I was afraid, was about to turn into one of those dreaded question and answer periods. Luckily, by this time we were approaching 122nd street and Lexington Avenue and would not have much time for this discussion.

"Nuva-ring, mommy... what's a nuva-ring?", she repeated.

"What makes you ask? What do you think it is?", I responded shakily. Sweat beads were forming along my brow and I heard Jordan snicker. He'd obviously seen this scene play out between us many times before.

I caught a glimpse of Julia in the rear view mirror. Her brow was furrowed and she was obviously trying to frame her question so that she received a straight answer, as I'm sure she sensed my obvious avoidance. "I don't know what the nuva-ring is. That's why I asked. I saw it on a sign at the bus stop and was wondering what it was."

I saw my out! We were already on 115th and Lexington and had only 4 blocks to go. I was certain that she wasn't able to read the entire advertisement as we whizzed by, much less understand it and surely 4 blocks wasn't enough time to explain it. I made my strategic move. "What did the sign say?" Check.

Right at this time, a big, yellow school bus proceeded to slowly flip out the octagonal, red-flashing stop sign. I was caught. Julia and I met eyes in the rear view mirror. She flashed her winning smile and said, "The sign said the nuva-ring was 99.7% effective at preventing pregnancy if used properly. I don't now what the nuva-ring is, but I know it does something. If you tell me what the word preventing is, then I can probably figure out what it is. Deal?" Check mate.

I was floored! My 5-year-old not only read the advertisement but was attempting to use deductive reasoning to understand it. She could care less what the nuvo-ring was! All's well that ends well. I explained the word "preventing" and she was able to deduce that the nuva -ring "stops" pregnancy. She went Beyond Z this morning and this was all before 7:45am!

ps... The follow-up discussion of how this nuva-ring actually works is bound to be a winner.