When did grade four get to be so complicated?
My nine year old walks and talks the dramas I remember from high school yet has not mastered her multiplication tables.
She’s asking for clothes the costume department used on the cougars in the background at the Regal Beagle on Three’s Company (styles really do come and go in cycles) at the same time she’s learning to write her name in script and successfully return home with the water bottle I packed for her.
The girl drama aside, I think t.v. is in large part influencing the language of these young girls and I’m considering shutting the whole thing down.
Last night was a pivotal moment when my three year old, taking her cue from her older sibling, turned to a kid riding their bike down our street and with her hands on her hips shouted, “Hey, where are you going, you Hobo?”
Chloe laughed after she said ‘hobo’ but then looked in my direction with an expression that said, “I have no idea what I just said but I’m pretty sure there’s a laugh track playing behind one of the street lamps and I really hope my Mom didn’t hear me.”
She wasn’t quite sure why I might question her choice to shout at a happy kid out riding their bike that they were a homeless drifter, but she knew it could land her in hot water.
I called Chloe over and asked her what she said and she repeated, “I said, ‘hey, where are you going, you Hobo!” and proceeded to run away laughing.
I explained to all three girls when we went inside that name calling of any kind was not nice, that it was not acceptable behaviour and it would not be tolerated.
The two youngest “the informants” were quick to throw their older sister under the bus so my discussion turned into a one on one with Hanna about being a good role model, treating people with kindness and respect and that name calling was never okay.
She agreed. We had what I considered to be a great talk and I walked out of her room feeling like we had made great strides.
A few minutes later, she emerged from her room to ask me something.
“Mom, what is a Hobo?”
