Home Page

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Sometimes Realism Just Works

Madison has this thing where she likes to take one of my tablets, scribble a few lines on it, tear it off and do the same thing to the next sheet of paper. If given the time, she'll go through an entire pad of paper in a couple of days. I've been trying to explain to a three-year-old about waste and specifically, wasting paper. You know, the politically correct way you explain just about everything to a three-year-old. Usually she gives me the half-listening "Uh huh" and tunes me out like an AM radio station.

Tonight I tried a different approach. As she merrily went through a post-it note pad, I told her that they kill trees to make paper. She gave me the usual "Uh huh" and moved on through about two more post-its. Then I watched her stop to ponder it, and she turned to me to say, "Mommy, they really kill trees to make paper?" When I confirmed it, she handed me the post-it pad, her pen and moved on to something else.

4 comments:

Martin said...

Very cool to see a moment when a connection is made. B) Even if it takes some time for it to sink in. But I'm sure the duration shortens as she contemplates more and bigger concepts.

Ken said...

Way to go Lora! Kids are so amazing and it's awesome when you see one "get it."

Anonymous said...

I wonder if this approach will work on a teenager as well. I'll have to give it a try.

Cupcake Blonde said...

A little environmentalist in the making.