I've got a mini-problem.
Aug. 22nd, 2009 08:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conuly
Ana and Evangeline sometimes come out with gems of wholly inaccurate information. For example, in California they told us that they thought if water got in their ear they could go blind.
Me and my mom: No, honey, in fact, that's pretty much the stupidest thing that's ever been said, seriously.
Them: But Grandma said...!
See, now, there's the problem. If it should happen again (we found out after the fact that Grandma is also responsible for them thinking mice and raccoons go seeking out little girls to get sick, although how much of this is what she actually said and how much of this is small child hyperbole and blame-shifting, I don't know), what do we say? I mean, if we've already dismissed the idea as being completely asinine and without merit. If we know in advance where the idea came from we can say "sometimes grown-ups make mistakes, sweetie", but usually they don't pull out their credited source the first time we ask, only after we share our opinions on their little tidbit of false information. (I hate that. If I ask who told you, and you say you don't know, keep saying you don't know! Don't remember after we tell you you're wrong! NOT COOL. That's what happened when Ana's friend told her sex = grown-ups kissing in bed. It took me a month to track down where she heard this! Well, actually, that explanation of sex isn't that far off, but anyway.)
Hey, hey, LJ, what on earth should I say?
Me and my mom: No, honey, in fact, that's pretty much the stupidest thing that's ever been said, seriously.
Them: But Grandma said...!
See, now, there's the problem. If it should happen again (we found out after the fact that Grandma is also responsible for them thinking mice and raccoons go seeking out little girls to get sick, although how much of this is what she actually said and how much of this is small child hyperbole and blame-shifting, I don't know), what do we say? I mean, if we've already dismissed the idea as being completely asinine and without merit. If we know in advance where the idea came from we can say "sometimes grown-ups make mistakes, sweetie", but usually they don't pull out their credited source the first time we ask, only after we share our opinions on their little tidbit of false information. (I hate that. If I ask who told you, and you say you don't know, keep saying you don't know! Don't remember after we tell you you're wrong! NOT COOL. That's what happened when Ana's friend told her sex = grown-ups kissing in bed. It took me a month to track down where she heard this! Well, actually, that explanation of sex isn't that far off, but anyway.)
Hey, hey, LJ, what on earth should I say?
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Date: 2009-08-22 05:07 pm (UTC)*My* grandmother believed firmly to the end of her days that if you ate fish and drank milk at the same meal, you'd die.
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Date: 2009-08-22 05:21 pm (UTC)Why on earth did your grandmother believe that?
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Date: 2009-08-22 06:54 pm (UTC)After all, I'd be more concerned with the implication that she is stupid for having said it than that her grandmother is if she believes that having a stupid idea means that that person is stupid.
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Date: 2009-08-22 07:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-22 08:26 pm (UTC)*I* think the fact that he lived in West Texas, several miles from any fishable water source, almost 100 years ago, might have had something to do with the quality of the fish, but she (and I think her mother) latched on to the fish-and-milk is deadly meme.
In other words, she believed it because people find patterns even when there are no patterns to be found. I'm thinking food poisoning, but maybe he ate fish and milk and then had a heart attack, and the family was looking for something to blame it on? I dunno.
This happened when she was a young girl. If my grandmother were alive today she'd be almost 120.
If you don't think that Ana can handle the idea that stupid ideas are held even by people who aren't stupid, then you might try saying in the future that stupid things are "wrong" or "incorrect" instead. That sort of precision seems to come naturally to you. :D
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Date: 2009-08-22 08:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-22 08:49 pm (UTC)But, yeah, speaking of precision, that's just stupid.
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Date: 2009-08-23 02:39 am (UTC)Well, somehow Stephy was of the mind that kissing = marriage. She said she was going to marry me when she grew up, and I was like, um, no. So she said she would marry her Sissy when she grew up. Then walked over to Annika and kissed her full on the mouth and was like "see now we're married!"
I lol'd a bit, and then explained that no, kissing doesn't equal marriage. :-p