A 6-year-old Who Gets It

As I flipped through the piles and piles of schoolwork that made it’s way home with my six-year-old twins, I found myself puzzled by one page of Liam’s work.  The worksheet was two columns with a smiley face saying “GOOD TO PUT IN YOUR MOUTH!” and a sad face saying “BAD TO PUT IN YOUR MOUTH!”.

I know the kids have been learning about drugs and medicines that they shouldn’t put in their mouth but I just couldn’t make sense of Liam’s drawings. So I called him over and asked him to tell me about it.

And in one of those amazing Proud Domestica Moments, Liam explained that on the left, the stick man was eating a carrot “because that is a good thing to put in your mouth”.  Below that, a maple leaf (bless his little Canadian heart!) represented maple syrup because “it’s a better way to make your food a bit sweeter”. He then went on to say that in the right column he drew a pizza (which “isn’t good for you”) and then one stick man warning another stick man who was trying to eat a cheeseburger.

(sigh).

I smiled and told him he did a great job. Then I took a mental snapshot of the moment and tucked it away in my brain for the possibility of one day facing a cranky 17-year-old teenager staring at the fridge complaining that he’s sick of carrot sticks and demanding that I order pizza.

Domestically Yours,
Natasha Kay