Fintan on extraterrestrial life in the Universe

Fintan, three, is an imaginative child - and with that comes a certain open-mindedness. This allows him to consider things which, perhaps, others might not. Yesterday, he spoke of one of those things.

It was getting late in the evening and Fintan had been watching television. Syahidah, his mother, rose from the sofa to do something and Fintan looked across at her in alarm:

"Don't go mummy..." he said, anxiously.

She paused and looked back at him.

"Don't let the aliens come to my house." he continued, in explanation, with a strange intonation that spoke simultaneously of anxiousness - and curiosity, as if, deep down, he wanted them to come, that he wanted to see them.

Syahidah didn't comment but let him speak on.

"Why is the aliens colour so...so...so..." there was a kind of disgust on his face, as if to say: "They look yukky." I think this is the fashion conscious part of him deciding that bright green is just not the right choice.

Then, finally, and a little longingly: "Why do the aliens live so far away?"

I think he rather wants to meet these aliens - and perhaps one day he will. Perhaps we all will - if we live long enough to see that day. I doubt though that they will be Little Green Men.

I found it curious that he understood that any aliens would be far away: it seems he has some grasp of the scale of the Universe and the distances involved. The stars are not just an arms' length away. He has already grasped that in his three year old world.

I got Fintan a "dinosaur" one day. I think getting him an "alien" might be a little more difficult. Oh well.