For whatever reason - superb luck? accidental good parenting? - my kids don't seem to have picked up any curse words.
They have, however, picked up the idea of curse words.
Tonight D did some Very Bad things, and was unceremoniously dumped into time-out. A couple of minutes later I decided we were probably both ready to talk.
As I approached a glowering D, she looked up at me and hissed, "Watermelon."
"D, why are you acting like this? I know you're a good girl and can be so nice, why do mean things to your sisters and Mommy and Daddy?" I began.
(Note: this was a mistake, for a couple reasons - number 1 mistake being that I asked "why." Never ask why. You don't want to know.)
"Because. Everyone was ANNOYING me," she explained.
"But when you hit N and took her things, maybe you were annoying her."
*Glare.* "Sweet potato. Sweet potato."
"What could you do instead of hitting?"
"Sweet potato."
****
Two minutes later, D has stopped hissing vegetable names at me and is ready to talk.
Me (attempting a This is a Teaching Moment voice): "So what do you think would help you remember not to hit?"
D (instantly): "If I went to Jerusalem for two days."
".... "
"We could stay in the same hotel where we stayed last time."
"Who would go to Jerusalem? Just you?"
"No, me, and you and everybody who lives in this house... And then I would remember not to hit."
"But honey, we were in Jerusalem before, and it's still hard for you to remember not to hit."
".... I don't remember being in Jerusalem before."
"You remembered the hotel just now."
".... No! I don't remember the hotel at all."
****
Would you believe that N, of all people, is a very stubborn child?
N loves to learn. But N loves to learn her way.
Right now, she's learning to write. OK, great. I suggested maybe she wanted to learn to read first, but no. She wants writing. So maybe she wanted me to sit with her and work on letters? No. Should I help her figure out how to spell words? No! She will write letters, and then I will tell her what she wrote. And that is how she will learn.
So we have dozens of scenes like this (translation by me):
N: Mommy, what did I write? Did I write "good girl"?
Me: No, honey, it says "Gomshpal."
But she perseveres. For what it's worth, N's way generally seems to work pretty well for her - she's somehow picked up a grade-level-and-beyond knowledge of letters, math, and English - so for now, I try to just nod, smile, and be grateful yet again that I don't homeschool.
They have, however, picked up the idea of curse words.
Tonight D did some Very Bad things, and was unceremoniously dumped into time-out. A couple of minutes later I decided we were probably both ready to talk.
As I approached a glowering D, she looked up at me and hissed, "Watermelon."
"D, why are you acting like this? I know you're a good girl and can be so nice, why do mean things to your sisters and Mommy and Daddy?" I began.
(Note: this was a mistake, for a couple reasons - number 1 mistake being that I asked "why." Never ask why. You don't want to know.)
"Because. Everyone was ANNOYING me," she explained.
"But when you hit N and took her things, maybe you were annoying her."
*Glare.* "Sweet potato. Sweet potato."
"What could you do instead of hitting?"
"Sweet potato."
****
Two minutes later, D has stopped hissing vegetable names at me and is ready to talk.
Me (attempting a This is a Teaching Moment voice): "So what do you think would help you remember not to hit?"
D (instantly): "If I went to Jerusalem for two days."
".... "
"We could stay in the same hotel where we stayed last time."
"Who would go to Jerusalem? Just you?"
"No, me, and you and everybody who lives in this house... And then I would remember not to hit."
"But honey, we were in Jerusalem before, and it's still hard for you to remember not to hit."
".... I don't remember being in Jerusalem before."
"You remembered the hotel just now."
".... No! I don't remember the hotel at all."
****
Would you believe that N, of all people, is a very stubborn child?
N loves to learn. But N loves to learn her way.
Right now, she's learning to write. OK, great. I suggested maybe she wanted to learn to read first, but no. She wants writing. So maybe she wanted me to sit with her and work on letters? No. Should I help her figure out how to spell words? No! She will write letters, and then I will tell her what she wrote. And that is how she will learn.
So we have dozens of scenes like this (translation by me):
N: Mommy, what did I write? Did I write "good girl"?
Me: No, honey, it says "Gomshpal."
But she perseveres. For what it's worth, N's way generally seems to work pretty well for her - she's somehow picked up a grade-level-and-beyond knowledge of letters, math, and English - so for now, I try to just nod, smile, and be grateful yet again that I don't homeschool.
בטטה!
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