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conulyWhen she left, Ana told her "don't talk to strangers", which is a very silly thing to say because 1. the girl lives three houses down (actually in the same house that two different friends of mine lived in when I was growing up, though at different times) and 2. quiet block, remember? As I pointed out to Ana, we have no strangers. Nobody ventures here whom we don't know at least by face (and, in case of the Belgians, national origin. I've told you about having their house pointed out to me by a mutual Belgian who doesn't live around here and who has never even met them, right?). Evangeline has taken to hugging the mailman, the mothers when I was a child are all grandmothers now, and all the kids on the block feel free (because we do let them) to come into our yard and pick our mint, and to call my mother Nanen.
(Besides, it's not strangers that are dangerous. I wish they'd stop teaching that lie in schools. But that's beside the point.)
Afterwards, I realized that rather than pointing out the unlikelihood of that advice being necessary on the walk home, or even the pointlessness of the advice at all, I really should have told her that this sort of advice should never come from same-aged friends.
Ana is two grades below this girl in school, and anyway, that's not the sort of thing kids say to one another. Adults do. Adults who have very little faith in their kid's ability to remember simple admonishments and use common sense. It's entirely inappropriate for Ana to be saying this sort of thing to her friend, regardless of how good or bad the advice is.
But you know, she's in kindergarten. She's convinced that everything she learns there is a pearl of wisdom, to be treasured. More than treasured - to be shared! She's spent the past week seriously telling us all about The Earth. (Now I have a new hook. "Ana, clean your room. Don't You Care About The Earth?" "Ana, go get my phone for me. Don't You Care About The Earth?" "Ana, stop rolling your eyes. That's Bad For The Earth." Then again, maybe not. She's ardent, but not quite *that* gullible.) I don't know if I could convince her of that, and moreover, I'm not sure I should try. Surely she can figure this out on her own? I mean I certainly did, and it only took... what, 15, 16 years? I don't pontificate that much anymore, do I? She's bound to work it out without my help, right?
(Besides, it's not strangers that are dangerous. I wish they'd stop teaching that lie in schools. But that's beside the point.)
Afterwards, I realized that rather than pointing out the unlikelihood of that advice being necessary on the walk home, or even the pointlessness of the advice at all, I really should have told her that this sort of advice should never come from same-aged friends.
Ana is two grades below this girl in school, and anyway, that's not the sort of thing kids say to one another. Adults do. Adults who have very little faith in their kid's ability to remember simple admonishments and use common sense. It's entirely inappropriate for Ana to be saying this sort of thing to her friend, regardless of how good or bad the advice is.
But you know, she's in kindergarten. She's convinced that everything she learns there is a pearl of wisdom, to be treasured. More than treasured - to be shared! She's spent the past week seriously telling us all about The Earth. (Now I have a new hook. "Ana, clean your room. Don't You Care About The Earth?" "Ana, go get my phone for me. Don't You Care About The Earth?" "Ana, stop rolling your eyes. That's Bad For The Earth." Then again, maybe not. She's ardent, but not quite *that* gullible.) I don't know if I could convince her of that, and moreover, I'm not sure I should try. Surely she can figure this out on her own? I mean I certainly did, and it only took... what, 15, 16 years? I don't pontificate that much anymore, do I? She's bound to work it out without my help, right?
