Kids never HAVE to be wrong

None of us like to make mistakes. Funny thing is, most of us do it every day, whether it's on the massive scale of "Oh no, I ran a red light and totalled the car!" or the minor scale of "I can't believe I ate the whole thing!" Kids, I suppose, have it especially rough, because they are learning all they can from the world around them, and no matter how much they think they know, someone's always going to be correcting them about something.

My oldest really HATES to be wrong about things. Since he started school he comes home telling us all sorts of things, with the air of authority that most folks don't develop until after they've earned their PhD. It can get kind of annoying to have a seven-year-old know-it-all in the house, but if he makes mistakes I try to break it to him gently, because he is, at least at times, an emotional and melodramatic child, and you never quite know what you might get back if he's been having a rough day and you didn't know about it.

The middle one doesn't really appreciate it when he's wrong about something, but for the most part he just shrugs it off and rolls with the punches. The next time it comes up, he might remember and he might not, being only four going on five, but he doesn't generally stress over it one way or the other. I'm thankful for those blessings.

The youngest, only two going on three, has figured out he doesn't ever HAVE to be wrong. If you tell him he's made a mistake, he just puts his favorite qualifier on his statement, and Voila! he can still be right! For instance, this morning we were coming home from the grocery store and saw a tractor-trailer pulling a piece of heavy machinery. He said "Mama, look ... it's a bull-bo-zer!" "No sweetie," I said, "that's a digger." (easier for a two-year old mouth than excavator, I figured.) To which he responded, "I'm PRETENDING it's a bull-bo-zer!"

Well now, if he's pretending, who am I to argue, right? I've noticed he's pretending a lot lately, but I don't complain, because maybe it means that he's learning and using his imagination at the same time, and that magical combination of knowledge and creativity can be a marvelous thing.