posted on March 3, 2001 01:47:53 PM
I was just informed by my 8 yr old that I am "going down with the devil" and that I'm "bad for god." This stemmed from an overblown tantrum she had when I wouldn't allow her to roll up meatballs.
MrJulesy and I don't practice or preach any religion. We've begun teaching our kids their Jewish heritage, but more from a cultural standpoint than a religious one. Is she getting this "stuff" from a public school? She sounded like she was ready to stone me for not allowing her to roll meatballs...
posted on March 3, 2001 06:05:45 PM
*sigh* I don't know where these kids come up with this stuff, but I was somewhat flummoxed recently when my 7 year old informed me that I was a bad person for using drugs...She was referring to my cigarettes... I'm all for DARE, but isn't this taking it too far?
Could be school, playground conversation, or perhaps does she have a playmate from a fundamentalist family where she visits?
Katy,
Our son was on our backs about smoking from pre-school through most of elementary. It progresses from admonition to lecture to more subtle guilt trips. During adolesence the encounters are less frequent and more often employed as strategic points for diversionary counter-attack in the rare instances when any arguments move toward a logical conclusion unfavorable to their position. But it's only one of many. The early years are the most difficult though and their motivation does stem from genuine concern and caring.
posted on March 3, 2001 07:27:10 PM
Wait until the swat team blows down your door 'cause the little angel told them at school that you do drugs. It will probably be tough getting the bank accounts, house and the cars back under the fortiture laws, but if you have a couple hundred thousand stashed overseas somewhere you can use for legal help you will probably get them back.
posted on March 3, 2001 07:36:40 PM
Hi Antiquary --
You know, after I posted this thread, I thought of you, and I was worried you'd have the impression that I was coming down on public schools/educators, which I didn't mean to do. My daughter has a fantastic teacher, and I know she isn't getting this from *the* school...though you're right, I think she is definitely getting it from some of her classmates *at* school. What are they doing? Revival meetings at recess?
posted on March 3, 2001 08:11:28 PM
Once I was minding my own business driving down the road drinking a bottle of Coke.....my eldest was about 5 and suddenly starting having a hissy fit and wanted to get out of the car---this set the 2 year off into her own hysterics --with me in the front seat trying to shush everyone before I ran into a tree. Pulled over and asked the 5 year old why she needed to leave so suddenly.
Through her sobs she finally spit it out that I was DRINKING and DRIVING.............
posted on March 3, 2001 08:13:37 PMRevival meetings at recess?
LOL
If there is any religious indoctrination in the classroom, then go get them, Julesy. I doubt, though, that's the source, especially with the terminology that was used. Sounds like some poor kid who is being programmed for life by one of the fundamentalist cults. At that age, kids tend to parrot phraseology from home and especially if their religious cliches are new and questioned by peers, they would delight in the self-importance of sharing their information. And the other kids will temporary pick up those expressions, the same way that they do swear words, because of the novel or dramatic effect. I think that if you treat it as you would any other inappropriate behavior the effects will be minimal. But if your little one begins demanding money for the offering plate, it could have progressed too far.
posted on March 3, 2001 08:16:23 PM
It might even be one of the religious TV shows---maybe she watched some of one of them when you weren't looking. Sounds more like the terminogly that Peter Popoff or someone like him uses uses
posted on March 3, 2001 08:23:33 PMAnd the other kids will temporary pick up those expressions, the same way that they do swear words, because of the novel or dramatic effect
Yep, yep, yep...that was her! She was shrieking at me like Benny Hinn on a Chips Ahoy sugar rush.
posted on March 3, 2001 08:26:07 PM
The closest most public school teachers get to religion is usually muttering something along the lines of, "God help me before I kill this child!" Trust me.
You would be suprised how many times kids will bring up the subject in the classroom. I had one kid who would always say, "God Bless you" whenever he talked to me. Didn't bother me any, I figured it came from the parents....well, I met the parents, didn't come from them! Who knows, maybe the kid was reading the bible under the covers at night.
posted on March 3, 2001 08:26:36 PM
There was a case in the news maybe 5 years ago where this kid about 11 or 12 was calling down damnation on the teacher in class and calling her a "whore of Babylon" because she wore some makeup. Actually when they showed the teacher on TV she was a really plain looking conservative sort - mot a Tammy Faye Baker at all. The school finally suspended the kid and got in a big legal fight with the family because they felt he was persecuted. Of course what they were doing to the teacher was just fine....
[ edited by gravid on Mar 3, 2001 08:27 PM ]
posted on March 3, 2001 08:29:17 PM
Antiquary: I pulled the same stuff with my folks about the smoking....until *I* started smoking (Hey, I was 19, in college and knew it all....ahhh to be young again).
I stopped the lectures the day I had to bum a smoke off of my mom. Don't believe she let me forget it, either.
posted on March 4, 2001 07:34:03 AM
Yeah, lotsa, and one of the belated satisfactions of parenting is reaching the stage that you can play the remember when game.
posted on March 5, 2001 08:13:57 AM
ahhhhhhh, speaking of the mouth's of babes......
When my three-year-old nephew is over visiting he is ever vigilant to watch if my office door is unguarded 'cause that is the only room in the house he is not allowed. Of course that makes him want to go in there. The one time he had about a minutes time alone in there he erased a file (dll file missing CPUINF32.DLL was not found - is message I get when I try to use a floppy).
So.... one day he is over visiting and looking longingly at the door, then innocently at my face he asked "auntie, when you die can I go in your office?"
Well, I laughed so hard, that probably would be a good time! I guess I wouldn't mind!
And before you tell me he needs some computer time, his mom has a computer and does train him a little. And she is my sister 29 YEARS younger than me, she has more strength.
