Leaving the grocery store yesterday afternoon, trotting toward the car:
Emma: Hey Mom? Remember that whale and dolphin show at Sea World?
Me: Yes.
Andrew: Yeah - but some of those costumes were really ugly!
Emma: (little offended noises)
Me: Now, Andrew, is that really something subjective or objective?
Andrew: (defensive) I'm just sharing what I thought! I know it's my opinion.
Me: You should probably preface a statement like that, then, with "I think" the costumes were ugly. You can't unequivocally state that they were ugly. (no wonder my kids are a mess - I use words like unequivocally when I talk to them!)
Andrew: I know. (translation: "whatever")
Emma: Well, I think that they were all beautiful!
3 comments:
lavish them with such a mess maker as a good vocabulary. They'll never regret having an better understanding of their world. And they'll certainly be better able to express themselves...I mean..."I THINK" you should lavish them...
Mary, that's something I believe in the very core of my being! My parents did that for me - especially my dad - and it has served me well. It's also made me lots of friends. There was one Travis Button who thought I was the funniest little kid who used such big words. He and his friend Kevin used to enjoy giving me vocabulary quizzes and generally testing my English skills :)
Hey, I know a Travis Button :) I can totally see him doing that. Actually, I do see him doing that with our girls all the time. And we don't "dumb down" our vocabulary to talk to our kids either.
Post a Comment