We interrupt this move…
to discuss appropriate behavior by children. If you have school age (or pre-school age) children, please weigh in on this discussion….
Yesterday a friend of my big girl came over to visit. She was here from about 4:30 - 6:30 and I served dinner. The meal consisted of left over soup from shabbat (tomato-vegetable), veggie schnitzel (choice of corn or spinach) and brussel sprouts. (Hey, my kids like them.)
Anyway, the big girl’s friend…lets call her Grumpy (she is about 5 1/2), says I don’t want soup.
me: Fine, which kind of schnitzel do you want?
Grumpy: Can I have cornflakes and milk?
me: No, we don’t have cornflakes here for dinner…what I serve is what you can have
Grumpy: do you have yogurt?
me: No, this is not a restaurant. You can have anything I’ve served. Would you like some bread with butter?
Grumpy: I want humus
me: fine…here is some bread with humus.
(child proceeds to maul bread with fork, while my children have finished their soup and started on their schnitzels)
Grumpy: I’ll have that schnitzel (corn).
Grumpy: Why does it have corn in it?
me: because it is corn schnitzel.
Grumpy: I don’t like it, and I don’t like the soup….let me see what you have in the fridge….
Ok..so I don’t need to give any more details, you get the idea. (oh, and she also wanted mitz (Israeli bug juice) but we only drink water here.)
I’m very conflicted about the situation. Firstly, I don’t think she behaved appropriately, and secondly, if I let her have her way, then I would have been teaching my children a message I really don’t want them to learn. Also, why do Israeli children think it is acceptable to go into someone else’s refrigerator? (This is the second time that one has happened to me.)
