Kids bicker, kids fight. Anyone who grew up with brothers and sisters know this. Now as a parent it is hard to have patience for the constant whining over what is mine or who touched what. I have always tried to teach my kids manners and a big part of this is how they talk to other people, so tone plays a big role. I constantly remind them that a snarky “fine” or “thanks” will not get them far.
Now my words have come back to me.
After work and school we had some time to play outside. Scooters, bikes and toys were brought out, helmets and pads were donned. Marty, who has no bike of his own, borrowed his sisters. Granted the image of my son riding down the sidewalk on a pink and purple bike with sparkly tassels was funny but the following conversation between Marty and Sarah was even better.
S: Marty! You didn't ask me to ride my bike!
M: Yeah, but you weren’t on it.
S: You still have to ask! (Can you tell by the exclamation points that she is yelling?)
M: Can I ride it since you are not it?
S: FINE!!!
A few moments later….
S: Moooommm tell Marty to give me the bike back, he didn’t ask!
Me: Yes he did, he asked when you yelled at him the first time and you said ‘fine’.
S: Yeah but I said it in a MEAN way which means I didn’t really want him to ride my bike!
The conversation ended with a six year old; eyes wide, mouth agape and the silent “Duh” look on her face. I may have been told that I ‘should have known’ this to which I would have responded if my powers of speech weren’t hampered by the stifling of laughter.
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