last night, while babysitting, i was talking to kid #1, who is four. he said to me, accusingly, "YOU DIDN'T RIDE YOUR BIKE."* i told him he was right, and that i might ride it next time, and then we had a little chat about bicycles. i learned that his mom doesn't ride hers, that his dad doesn't have one, and that he rarely rides his because, as he said,
"EVEN WITH MY HELMET ON, I STILL GET OWIES ON MY KNEES WHEN I RIDE MY BIKE. SO HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT?"
and, you know? he had a good point. so i told him that sometimes we get owies on our knees when we ride bikes, and that it's okay. then he looked at me like i was crazy and asked for some pizza.
*THIS IS HOW HE TALKS. HE IS FOUR.
Dust Motes
1 week ago
6 comments:
why I'd make a terrible baby sitter... I'd tell him "Life is pain!"
do you really think that's true?
no. life, truly, is suffering. pain is POV dependent.
i think suffering is also dependent on one's point of view.
but really, i was just more interested in encouraging a little dude to get out and bike.
I know.
If he accepted that life was pain, however, he might also be encouraged to ride his bike. If everything ends up hurting you, might as well enjoy yourself.
Chances that a 4 year old would understand something adults grapple with? Slim. But hey, I already said I'd be a terrible baby sitter. I'm all about directness and honesty, and youngins are naive and innocent. They should get to enjoy that for as long as possible.
I swear, the more comments I post, the harder the word verification gets: xsirkgbc
i don't think honesty and directness are incompatible with healthy and productive interactions with children. it's just a matter of what one tells people when; much in the same way that i would hold personal details of my life back from my grandma, a workmate, a friend of a friend, a large group of people, or the intertubes, i don't tell kids everything, but i can still have pleasant and appropriate relationships with them.
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