Reclaiming the Womb

Out of the Mouths of Babes vol. 34

As we were driving back from an outing recently, my husband spotted a low-flying plane descending into a nearby airpark. The boys didn’t see it zoom overhead, so Steve reminded them to look out the right side of the van as we passed the airport so they could see the aircraft taxiing on the runway. They did, but because of his position in the car, my oldest wasn’t able to see anything over his brother’s head. This led into a heated argument between the two of them culminating with my oldest trying to sling his leg into his brother’s foot.

And thus began a lesson on violence, problem solving, and confusing compound words.

Donovan (5): Michael just kicked me!

Me (from the front seat): “Michael, keep your feet to yourself. Why did you kick your brother?”

Michael (7): “Donovan was blocking me so I couldn’t see the plane landing.”

Me: “So that was reason to kick him?”

Michael: “No.”

Me: “Boys, no matter what happens, no matter how mad you are or how unjust you think your situation is, violence is never, ever an appropriate response. I mean, unless you’re being kidnapped, you do not have permission to resort to violence. You know this. Is that clear?”

Donovan: “Kidnapped? What is so bad about that? It’s just a kid taking a nap. There’s a kid; he’s sleeping. Oh, it’s a kid nap!”

Very good. So we will be re-addressing the Stranger Danger lesson I thought we covered in depth last year.

And yes, Steve was second-guessing his decision to point out the Cessna.

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