It has pained me at times to do things like go to science museums and see so called 'diligent parents' letting their kids treat hands-on science experiments like playgrounds. Yes, enjoy the science, enjoy the experiment... it is a place to play in a manner of speaking. But it's also a place to learn, and you have to respect that. I have actually had parents glare at me for a kid running wild, running into my legs when I was standing still, fall down and start crying.
If I had been the kid doing that, my mom would have made me stand up and go apologize to the person I ran into.
I think part of the problem is that a lot of people don't tend to see children as human beings in small bodies with minds and personalities and interests and all the rest. And I think that kids are that -- their questions need to be taken seriously and answered seriously and with respect. Because half of learning how to respect someone else is to really be treated with respect yourself.
But also the taking questions seriously... when I asked my mom about laundry or cooking or any of that, she told me how it worked and taught me how to help. And by the time I was 11, I knew how to do most of the things that were necessary to run a household. Not that I had to do them... but I knew how. It startled me how many of my friends got to college having never done their own laundry or bought groceries or planned meals or cooked anything. All of those were skills that I sort of took for granted.
It has pained me at times to do things like go to science museums and see so called 'diligent parents' letting their kids treat hands-on science experiments like playgrounds. Yes, enjoy the science, enjoy the experiment... it is a place to play in a manner of speaking. But it's also a place to learn, and you have to respect that. I have actually had parents glare at me for a kid running wild, running into my legs when I was standing still, fall down and start crying.
If I had been the kid doing that, my mom would have made me stand up and go apologize to the person I ran into.
I think part of the problem is that a lot of people don't tend to see children as human beings in small bodies with minds and personalities and interests and all the rest. And I think that kids are that -- their questions need to be taken seriously and answered seriously and with respect. Because half of learning how to respect someone else is to really be treated with respect yourself.
But also the taking questions seriously... when I asked my mom about laundry or cooking or any of that, she told me how it worked and taught me how to help. And by the time I was 11, I knew how to do most of the things that were necessary to run a household. Not that I had to do them... but I knew how. It startled me how many of my friends got to college having never done their own laundry or bought groceries or planned meals or cooked anything. All of those were skills that I sort of took for granted.
I am rambling.
Anyway, thanks for this entry. :-)
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