I was taking a flight from Philly to New York and there was this 2 year old cutie seated right behind me. However, she wouldnt just stop talking, she was such a chatterbox. Luckily, I amazingly understand baby talk a bit and just love to hear the way their young minds and heads work in symphony. She then goes "Daddy!Daddy! I want some juice" and her dad responds, what fruits do you like so that we can know what juice to get you...
He then began naming the fruits, he goes...."Do you like apples, bananas, oranges, strawberries and all her answers were yes!yes!yes!. However to my suprise he goes, do you like tomatoes???
And my eyes pop out?? "Man what are you teaching a 2 year old?? Tomato is a vegetable not fruit I felt like screaming"....... But guess what he goes "Would you put tomato in a fruit salad"? to which she answers No! And he goes "then tomato is a vegetable not a fruit and she goes that's true dad!
That said, Is tomato really a fruit or vegetable??? Make sure, you find out for yourself !
Training kids however has taken a different dimension. I hope to have a child training/mentoring series in the future, I hope its sooner than later as my hands are getting quite full. I love the critical reasoning part of my earlier story, its not enough to give children information, but some times let them reason out the answers for themselves. As we got talking, he mentioned the little girl can actually speak 3 languages, now tell me about getting excited for someone else's child
I watch with dismay as children of this generation are growing quicker than they should while towing the not so preferred route, I go for parties and see the way children twerk and even know the lyrics for songs that are clearly adult language, I am not making reference to teenagers now as that is a story for another day..... I remember on one occasion I had to tell my mum that the dance steps didn't really go well with me, to which she responded "No harm dear, they are kids" And I said mum they have refused to be kids and are clearly stepping as full grown adults. Some people might say, I am being EXTRA but I will say categorically that there is a time for everything. Yes!
In few words, I will ask, what values and principles are you training your children with or planning to if you hope to have some? unfortunately you cant give what you don't have. Are you training them to be critical thinkers, challenge the norm and bring about creativity? As I write this, I just wonder if this generation will have another Einstein, Louis Paster, Isaac Newton etc.
Give those children, the right education..... Don't just pop them out and let nature take its course.
Remember its easier to buildstrong children than repair broken men-- Frederick Douglass
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