Thoughts While Mowing the Lawn
Yes, I actually got a chance to use the lawn mower again. We've had a really stormy spring, getting all of the water they need up north, so it's been hard to keep up with the yard work. Jody got the front and side done on Monday, so I decided to do the backyard while the weather was still clear and relatively cool. And this time I only ran over two small stuffed dog toys that were hidden in the long grass. Although at one point I thought I had run over a snake. Nearly running over a snake led me to a train of thought. I'm pretty sure it was a garter snake, we're seeing quite a few of them this year where we've never really noticed them here before. Harmless, and good for getting rid of other pests. And yet, I do know that there are poisonous snakes around in this area. So how do you go about teaching a 3 year old boy that some snakes are good and some snakes are bad?
Which leads on to a larger thought. How do you teach a young child to be wary of dangers without instilling a fear of the world? How do you teach them that some snakes, some people, some situations are dangerous without making them scared of everything? Personally, I don't like bugs. Jody is the remover of bugs. However, this dislike of bugs led to a little boy shrieking in terror when he went into the bathroom and saw a mosquito hawk. It's taken a while, but now it's "Oh cool, a mosquito hawk. It will eat the mosquitoes!" And along these lines, in the past year, I've had to train my son in things I'd rather not have to train him in. So if someone touches him somewhere inappropriately, he knows to yell, "No, don't touch my wee wee! I'm going to tell my mother!" It saddens me that this is necessary. However, just reading the news lets me know how important it is to teach Tripp how to protect himself from danger. There's a martial arts school not far from his daycare. I think if I can come up with the extra money in the next year, I'm going to look at enrolling him in classes.
Which leads on to a larger thought. How do you teach a young child to be wary of dangers without instilling a fear of the world? How do you teach them that some snakes, some people, some situations are dangerous without making them scared of everything? Personally, I don't like bugs. Jody is the remover of bugs. However, this dislike of bugs led to a little boy shrieking in terror when he went into the bathroom and saw a mosquito hawk. It's taken a while, but now it's "Oh cool, a mosquito hawk. It will eat the mosquitoes!" And along these lines, in the past year, I've had to train my son in things I'd rather not have to train him in. So if someone touches him somewhere inappropriately, he knows to yell, "No, don't touch my wee wee! I'm going to tell my mother!" It saddens me that this is necessary. However, just reading the news lets me know how important it is to teach Tripp how to protect himself from danger. There's a martial arts school not far from his daycare. I think if I can come up with the extra money in the next year, I'm going to look at enrolling him in classes.