which way?

On Thursday evenings I bike down the street to a little English center and read picture books to children. Mostly the kids are too young to sit through an entire story unless the book is unusually large and has mesmerizing pictures of animals.

Last week, one little girl sat dutifully through the entire story. She was not particularly engaged, but also not distracted by her surroundings, she seemed deeply caught up in her own thoughts. After the story was over and the children were playing I sat down beside her and asked her questions in Chinese about the book she was reading. She would nod her head or point in answer. After a while, I asked her if she wanted to go color. Suddenly, out of that silent child, came long burdened sentences: "I want to go color, but then right when I'm about to go I don't want to any more and then when I stay then I want to color. I want to color and then I don't." I had never seen such an indecisive child. She was visibly distressed by her inability to decide.