Teachable Moments

The other day, Kyle talked to Isaac about being gentle with girls. He told him that rough-housing is for boys and girls, including his sisters, needed to be treated very differently.

As Kyle and I talked about this later, I realized that I needed to talk to the girls about how to handle boys treating them too roughly.

I took all my big girls on an errand and told them how boys naturally love being rough and tumble. I told them that any boys who aren't taught will tend to treat girls the same way, and they need to know how to respond to it. I said: When you get tired of it or don't like the way a boy is treating you, you need to stop laughing and completely change your countenance as you say "Stop it. I don't like that!" I explained that boys don't understand when you're saying no no, but still laughing and giggling.

The same day, Elena was reading a comic in the newspaper (would love your thoughts on this by the way; they're not as innocent as I remember!) and she asked me: What's a hangover?

I didn't mind explaining that. I told her what it is and Maya jumps in with:

Wine is a mocker. Strong drink a brawler. Whoever is intoxicated by it is unwise.

I had completely forgotten that we had memorized that verse. I had taught it to them, somewhat in jest, wagging my finger and furrowing my brow, so Julia would copy me. But they committed it to memory!

So I asked: What is a mocker? (They all answered that it's someone who makes fun of someone.) Exactly, I said, when a person is drunk, they're easy to laugh at. They look and act ridiculous because they're not in their right mind.

I never had to say that getting drunk is a bad idea. All I had to do was define a hangover.