The Philosophy of a Six-Year-Old
Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Eldest son: I’m not really sure. But I know I don’t want to be a leader.
Me: (puzzled) Why?
Eldest son: Because leaders always seem to die or get killed.
I’m guessing they’ve been learning a bit about Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln in kindergarten. We had a little discussion about how leaders are not always assassinated and what being a leader means. I think he understood.
But oh, the hardest dinner discussion came when he confessed another truth.
Him: (girl’s name) had a bad day. Her family is splitting up.
Me: I’m so sorry to hear that. It must be hard on her.
Him: How can a family split up?
I could see the worry on his face. But the hardest part for me was trying to explain how some adults just don’t love each other any more and they decide to live apart. He replied, “Well, that’s not very nice. You should always love each other.”
Oh, the death of innocence. They never tell you how to answer these sorts of questions. It makes me want to squeeze him tight and shelter him as much as I can.
Michelle posted in Writing @ 6:06 am | Viewed 1893 times
beth Says:
So maybe we need to reword “Lead, follow, or get out of the way” to, “If you’re going to lead, be sure to get out of the way too”? :)
Aww…that’s heartbreaking, both for the little girl and for your oldest. Sounds like you handled it well though - and he makes a good point.
Kim A. Says:
Aw, yes, heartbreaking for your son and the girl in his class whose parents are divorcing.
My parents divorced when I was 14 (a LONG time ago — LOL) but at the time, and living in a small, isolated community, it was big news. Because that just wasn’t done at the time. Now it’s the norm.
However, I believe that two happy and well-adjusted parents living apart is far better than two dysfunctional, fighting parents living together. I speak from experience on this one.
-Kim
Melissa Marsh Says:
The whole “splitting up” issue has been a hard one for our family since my husband is divorced and has two kids from his first marriage. Our daughter together sometimes has a hard time understanding why her two brothers have a different mom.
Always hard questions for parents. Never a dull moment!
Taryn Raye Says:
That brings tears to my eyes.
My stepson(9), has begun to question, over the past couple of years, why his mom and dad aren’t together anymore, why they can’t be and how much he wished they could be.
It breaks my heart each time he asks and there isn’t a really easy answer to give him other that sometimes couples fall out of love and don’t want to be together anymore. We can’t very well tell him his mom left his dad when he was only 6 months old to be with another man that she had been cheating with.