The other day my 7 y/o son was playing with a bag of multi-colored straws from H.E.B. and he said, "If I was God I would have put the colors of the rainbow in a different order."
I wish I would have been a good mom and asked questions like, "What order would you put the colors of the rainbow?" or "What's wrong with the rainbow the way it is?" Instead I said, without thinking, "But the rainbow would be ugly and have lots of browns."
Isn't that terrible? I totally missed an opportunity to get him to say more cute things or to just hear more of his wild and innocent thoughts. I just made a negative comment which stopped the conversation.
I should have said, "Let's create our own rainbow!" and as we built it I could have reminded him how red and yellow make orange and yellow and blue make green...
Reality would have presented itself without me having to say anything!
That's how truth is. You don't have to point it out because it's there.
Later, my son said, "I wish I was God." I avoided giving a Church Lady lecture and instead asked, "Why do you wish you were God?" and he said, "Because I want to make my own world." Isn't that wild? I don't remember wanting to be God when I was a kid. I wanted to be a mermaid, but not a deity.
I told him that what he wanted to do was to create, which is very much like God. We could create - we could paint, make a sculpture, build something, write a song... Have you ever had that feeling?
It was a few days later that he discovered a Sims game that my sister left at our house. He got his chance to make a world - houses and people - he even got to name the people. He chose the names "Marlin" and "Marth" which I don't understand but, whatever.
Your kid might want to be president... mine is aiming higher.
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Comments
Would of, Could of, Should of...
We are just humans and not perfectly scripted movies all though many think we should be.
I missed so many opportunities in my life to say the right things. You remember them more when the kids are out and gone. But then you remember that is life. Good, HONEST intentions will tell the story. It usually shows up in them.
September 2, 2009 at 2:40 p.m.Your posts are so sweet. My best bud's goal in life is to find the first alien life. I told him good-luck. I could have asked, "and what do you think the life will be like?" This was on one of our walks, and I was more concerned with listening to his feelings about mom and living with dad next year. Teachable moment once again missed because of my own agenda.
August 31, 2009 at 12:56 p.m.They don't come with manuals but you are still doing an awesome job! You have a good kid on your hands. I hope I live long enough to see the world he creates. Thank you for a great read!
August 31, 2009 at 7:18 a.m.Great story.
August 30, 2009 at 9:22 p.m.Don't be too hard on yourself. It sounds like you are already raising a wonderfully imaginative child! :-)
August 30, 2009 at 1:50 p.m.