under the bed
Why is it that children push all of their stuff under the bed, time and time again, and then act surprised when parents say "I'm going to look under the bed?" I know I did it as a child, my older ones did it, and my 6 year old is no exception. I don't blame him for trying to get a chore done quickly; it's the look of surprise that gets me.
"What? You're going to look UNDER the bed? Why on earth would you do that? Do you think your sweet son would try to get out of cleaning?"
So he goes back to his room, comes right back out and comes over and hugs me. "I love you Mama. You're the best mom in the whole world." And he flashes that "aren't I cute?" smile so his dimples show and he bats his eyes.
Very cute indeed, but it's not going to work.
"I'm still going to look under the bed."
"Drats!" he exclaims, again managing to look surprised at my perseverance.
My grandmother used to say "Do I look like I just fell off a turnip truck?" (A saying I actually never quite got, but I could tell she meant "Do you think I'm that stupid?) I learned long ago never to ask children - your own or students - "Do you think I'm stupid." Because the answer is YES. They DO think that I'm stupid; that all adults, especially parents, are indeed that stupid. It's amazing we can survive on our own as well as we do, yes?
If evolution is supposed to weed out behaviors and structures that don't work, why do children still put things under the bed and think we won't notice? A Behaviorist would say that must work for some children, which means some lenient parents are keeping the entire race from moving forward!
So reasonably, I'm left with two options: continue my fruitless quest to make children really clean their room on their own or give up completely.
I think I'll decide tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day.
"What? You're going to look UNDER the bed? Why on earth would you do that? Do you think your sweet son would try to get out of cleaning?"
So he goes back to his room, comes right back out and comes over and hugs me. "I love you Mama. You're the best mom in the whole world." And he flashes that "aren't I cute?" smile so his dimples show and he bats his eyes.
Very cute indeed, but it's not going to work.
"I'm still going to look under the bed."
"Drats!" he exclaims, again managing to look surprised at my perseverance.
My grandmother used to say "Do I look like I just fell off a turnip truck?" (A saying I actually never quite got, but I could tell she meant "Do you think I'm that stupid?) I learned long ago never to ask children - your own or students - "Do you think I'm stupid." Because the answer is YES. They DO think that I'm stupid; that all adults, especially parents, are indeed that stupid. It's amazing we can survive on our own as well as we do, yes?
If evolution is supposed to weed out behaviors and structures that don't work, why do children still put things under the bed and think we won't notice? A Behaviorist would say that must work for some children, which means some lenient parents are keeping the entire race from moving forward!
So reasonably, I'm left with two options: continue my fruitless quest to make children really clean their room on their own or give up completely.
I think I'll decide tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day.
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