When Children Speak Their Mind

Yikes!

Vivienne told her teacher, “You have crazy hair!”

THEN, to make matters worse, she patted her lovely teacher on the head three times and said, “Puff! Puff! Puff!”

Her teacher knows children well enough to laugh, but I remembered the times both girls have innocently commented on someone’s appearance without any concern – or understanding – of the person’s feelings. They’ve happily told people that they are “so so chubby!” or have “black teeth” or “look like a hamburger”. I think it’s time to address the issue.

So, I decided to make a rule until they are old enough to reason through the treacherous waters of commenting on another person’s appearance. My rule? Don’t do it. Just don’t ever say anything about how someone looks.

Yes, yes, I thought about being a little less legalistic and enforcing the good old, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all,” but this just wouldn’t work, because what the girls think is “nice,” other people think is “not nice”. For example, when I tried to explain to Vivienne that no one wants to be told that they have “crazy hair,” she was shocked. I said, “We should only comment about someone ‘s appearance if we know they would really like what we said about them.” To which, she reflected, “My teacher would have liked it a lot more if I told her that her hair looked like a carnival!

Yup. A carnival.

So, the rule remains: Don’t say anything about someone else’s appearance… until further notice.

 


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7 responses to “When Children Speak Their Mind”

  1. martha Brady Avatar

    LOL:) too funny!

  2. Emily Avatar
    Emily

    haha, I was just laughing so hard my roommate had to come in the kitchen and ask if I was ok.

  3. Rebecca Avatar

    Thanks for putting a smile on my face this Friday mornin’! Your girls are precious…they’ll crack up over this memory someday 🙂

  4. Jenny Avatar
    Jenny

    I just laughed out loud and now I can’t stop laughing. Way too funny. I am posting this one on my FB page. LOVE IT.

    Carnival? Can you trace her thoughts on this one??

  5. Leah Avatar
    Leah

    This reminds me of the time when our oldest was 4 or 5,and asked a rather plump high school-aged waiter at Wendy’s, with a sweet innocent voice, “Are you fat?” Horrifying takes on a whole new meaning.

  6. julie Avatar
    julie

    How about “Wow! You have “man arms”! They have more black hair on them than my daddy’s arms!” to a teen aged girl librarian!!

  7. Faith Avatar

    Bwahaha! Kids have a tendency to just let it rip. There is just no filter on those little people. I have a post written that I will have up soon about how my daughter – who is deaf does the same thing but in a different way!

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