Words of a Child

In a prior post I described how my five year old waited the entire play period to get a turn on the swing, just to give it up when his friend asked to have a turn. I encouraged him to take his turn first (at least sometimes!).

Well, the very next day, the same “friend” asked for my son’s turn. And as we discussed, my son said, “No, I want to take my turn this time.” As it turns out, that “friend” often asked for my son’s turn on the swing. And when he finally refused to give up his turn on the swing, the boy used the old “I won’t be your friend anymore line.” Well, my little Deep Thinker was not fooled. He refused anyway. And has continued to refuse up to today. He still gives friends his turn, but only when he knows they “really need a turn.”

On the way home today, we had a little talk. Deep Thinker said this same “friend” asked if he could cut in front of him in line today. My son refused, and the “friend” tried to push ahead of him anyway. Little Deep Thinker used blocking and some interesting walking from side to side techniques, and that other guy finally went to the back of the line.

So I asked, “Doesn’t it feel good to take your turn? Aren’t you proud of yourself?”

His response: “Well, it felt good to let my friends have my turn. But it feels even better to take it myself.” What a sweetheart.

Filed under: Child Kindness, Child Thoughts, Damage Control, Kids Talking about Themselves, Lessons Learned, School Tales, Uncategorized