I only speak one foreign language, and that not so perfectly. But I am getting to be quite good with a heretofore unrecognized language, that is turning out to be very useful. I call it Aspie. Let me explain.
All week long Sophie has been looking forward to going swimming in the local outdoor pool. It just opened this week, and she is so excited to get in there and splash around like we did last summer. The problem is that this water is not heated, except by the sun. And although the weather has been rather warm this week, it has been very overcast and often rained in the evenings. Not ideal swimming outside weather. We were really hoping to be able to go today, but woke up to dark clouds and more rain. We prepared her for the likelihood of not being able to go. But then the sun came out and she got all excited again.
And even though it was warmer outside, it wasn't really warm enough to be mostly naked, wet and outside. She was crushed. I suggested going to the local grill spot in the forest and having lunch there. Chris pointed out that due to the rain, all the wood was going to be soaking wet, and we wouldn't get a good fire going. His solution was for Sophie to just go outside in the backyard, if she wanted to go somewhere. This did not go over very well.
He wanted her to tell him what the difference was between being outside at the Badgers,(our nickname for the grill spot) and being outside behind the house. Now, many of you reading this will see the difference right away. Chris honestly did not. Sophie, being only 6 3/4, and overcome with disappointment, could not articulate herself very well. I stepped into to translate. "She wants an outing, not to just be outside. She wants activity, an event, an occasion." She nodded her head that this was exactly what she was trying to say. Chris finally understood, and we ended up cooking the sausages in the oven, then taking the whole picnic over to the Badgers and having a lovely afternoon. Everyone is happy, and peace is restored to the Charles universe.