Parenting Corner: The joys and trials of raising little Villans

[villarule123]

27 minutes ago, Paddywhack said:

I was getting on the monorail at Alton Towers last week with Mrs P and the two little Ps and we were joined in the carriage by an Asian bloke. Just as we were about to get off, my 4 year old pointed at the man and said quite loudly, "Look at that brown face!"

Mrs Ps reaction was to shush him, whilst I pretended I didn't hear and immediately asked him if he was looking forward to going on the Postman Pat ride (my son, not the man).

For some reason, he's obsessed with the colour of people's eyes, hair and clothes and they teach them about diversity at nursery. I don't think either of our reactions were particularly helpful, but equally, I'm not entirely sure what we should have said in that situation to be honest.

What a racist.

I bet @lapal_fan taught it him.

[Seat68]

3 hours ago, Paddywhack said:

I was getting on the monorail at Alton Towers last week with Mrs P and the two little Ps and we were joined in the carriage by an Asian bloke. Just as we were about to get off, my 4 year old pointed at the man and said quite loudly, "Look at that brown face!"

Mrs Ps reaction was to shush him, whilst I pretended I didn't hear and immediately asked him if he was looking forward to going on the Postman Pat ride (my son, not the man).

For some reason, he's obsessed with the colour of people's eyes, hair and clothes and they teach them about diversity at nursery. I don't think either of our reactions were particularly helpful, but equally, I'm not entirely sure what we should have said in that situation to be honest.

My daughter pre school was on the bus and an African gentleman got on. She announced louder than it should be, he’s a dark one. 

[lapal_fan]

3 hours ago, villarule123 said:

What a racist.

I bet @lapal_fan taught it him.

I got a racist joke I heard whilst playing ps4 once, wanna hear it? 

[Dodgyknees]

Baby was moving about, the person doing the scan said “quire the wiggler”, i said “like John McGinn.

My partner looked at me like I’m mad and asked what that means

[Rds1983]

Having had a bit too much to eat and drink last night, this morning I excused myself to the upstairs en suite. 

In the middle of it all, the bathroom door suddenly flew open and I was confronted by my 5 year old son holding his toy bow and arrow set, as he manically laughed and shot me in the chest.

Don't think I'll ever be able to watch a western again.

[Wainy316]

1 hour ago, Rds1983 said:

Having had a bit too much to eat and drink last night, this morning I excused myself to the upstairs en suite. 

In the middle of it all, the bathroom door suddenly flew open and I was confronted by my 5 year old son holding his toy bow and arrow set, as he manically laughed and shot me in the chest.

Don't think I'll ever be able to watch a western again.

[lapal_fan]

Cricket is turning into a very expensive hobby for my 8 year old.. 

Good job I love the game!  

[lapal_fan]

Just had my son's second football presentation and he won most improved player and managers player of the year.

He doesn't really understand what they mean, but I'm really happy for him.  He's a keeper and he had to replace a really good keeper due to that keepers family moving down south.  But he's made it his own and worked really hard at it.  Emi is his hero, and he did the Dibu trophy thing, which I laughed at but everyone else was fairly shocked at

[TheAuthority]

Any tips for talking about death to a 4&1/2 year old?

He keeps asking about what happens if we die and where my dad is now he's dead. He also says he doesn't want to die.

I'm sure it's come from the kids at his pre-school talking about the father of one of the lads who passed (suicide )

[fruitvilla]

How about  

You don't know

your don't think anyone can know

And what your personal bet is?ĵ

[delboy54]

When my daughter was very young probably about 3 years old she asked me "where was I before I was born, like 10 years ago?"

[Stevo985]

29 minutes ago, delboy54 said:

When my daughter was very young probably about 3 years old she asked me "where was I before I was born, like 10 years ago?"

“In my balls”

 

Next question

[mjmooney]

6 hours ago, TheAuthority said:

Any tips for talking about death to a 4&1/2 year old?

He keeps asking about what happens if we die and where my dad is now he's dead. He also says he doesn't want to die.

I'm sure it's come from the kids at his pre-school talking about the father of one of the lads who passed (suicide )

Tricky one. I had that conversation recently, but it was with the 8 year old, which is a different level of understanding. 

Funnily enough, I can actually remember thinking about this when I was a little kid. I'd accepted the idea that people get old and die, but somehow I thought it only happened to other people. When it dawned on me that I would die too, it was a bit of a jolt. I was six. 

[mjmooney]

Tantrum update: the 'terrible twos' are a real thing. Since granddaughter #3 turned three, she's really calmed down. She still gets her angry/upset moments, especially when tired, but they now blow over quickly, instead of turning into full-blown meltdowns. And she's recently been presented with a new baby sister, which we feared might trigger serious jealousy, but it's been fine - she absolutely loves the new baby. Massive relief all round. 

[Wainy316]

Personally as a kid I took a lot of comfort that me and my loved ones would go to heaven.

I’d feel weird saying that to my kid now though given my stance on religion.  I dunno, maybe I could just put it down to another Father Christmas level white fib?

[mjmooney]

1 minute ago, Wainy316 said:

Personally as a kid I took a lot of comfort that me and my loved ones would go to heaven.

I’d feel weird saying that to my kid now though given my stance on religion.  I dunno, maybe I could just put it down to another Father Christmas level white fib?

Not for me. If they ask I tell them that nobody really knows, but some people believe in the heaven thing, which is a nice thought, if that's what they want. 

[lapal_fan]

I just asked my son what he felt like before he was born, that's probably what it's like after people die.

And that if he kept asking me, I'd kill him.

[bobzy]

13 hours ago, TheAuthority said:

Any tips for talking about death to a 4&1/2 year old?

He keeps asking about what happens if we die and where my dad is now he's dead. He also says he doesn't want to die.

I'm sure it's come from the kids at his pre-school talking about the father of one of the lads who passed (suicide )

Had a similar thing with my eldest, around the same age.  She just kept asking about death and what happens when you die - a lot of questions about "Daddy's Mummy" and so on.  We went down the route of saying no-one really knows what happens when you die, apart from that you might go to heaven.  She then asked a lot of questions such as "Is Daddy's Mummy in heaven?", "Will I go to heaven when I die?" etc, but having an "understanding" that something is there seemed to help her "understand" death and the questions have all gone away now (she's 5 and a half).

The whole religion thing can be dealt with down the line.

[chrisp65]

I guess it depends on whether you want to believe people have any sort of soul at any sort of level.

So, 1,  you can go down the pure science route and explain we started off as stars, then we’re born then we die, the worms crawl in and the worms crawl out, they crawl all over your chin and mouth, then we’re sort of base material again.

Or, 2, you can cop out and say nobody really knows.

Or 3, you can suggest some heaven / soul / starlight / living in our hearts and minds and love stuff. Several brands are available for this.

It strikes me the ‘don’t know’ middling version is a form of deflection rather than actual answer. I went for a blend of 1 and 3.

 

[bobzy]

7 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

I guess it depends on whether you want to believe people have any sort of soul at any sort of level.

So, 1,  you can go down the pure science route and explain we started off as stars, then we’re born then we die, the worms crawl in and the worms crawl out, they crawl all over your chin and mouth, then we’re sort of base material again.

Or, 2, you can cop out and say nobody really knows.

Or 3, you can suggest some heaven / soul / starlight / living in our hearts and minds and love stuff. Several brands are available for this.

It strikes me the ‘don’t know’ middling version is a form of deflection rather than actual answer. I went for a blend of 1 and 3.

I enjoy that #2 is a cop out, when it's the only one which is actually true