While tucking in The Rationalist, we began our goodnight prayers.
"Hey, let's pray for you and The Math Bowl that you're a part of tomorrow."
"Mom...we can't do that!" he said indignantly.
"Why not?"
"Well...that just wouldn't be fair. What if I was the only one who prayed about it? I'd win and that would be like cheating!"
Me, laughing hysterically. How can you argue with that?
"Mom...we can't do that!" he said indignantly.
"Why not?"
"Well...that just wouldn't be fair. What if I was the only one who prayed about it? I'd win and that would be like cheating!"
Me, laughing hysterically. How can you argue with that?
*****
Conversation at the dinner table, amidst a petty, sibling argument:
Intuitive Monkey to The Rationalist,"Yes, you did say that!"
The Rationalist:"No, I didn't"
Me, applying reason and understanding to the argument: "Monkey, don't you ever forget things you've said?"
Monkey: "Yes, sometimes."
Me: "Don't you think that other people sometimes forget things too?"
Monkey: "How would I know? I'm not them."
That'll teach me to reason with them.
Intuitive Monkey to The Rationalist,"Yes, you did say that!"
The Rationalist:"No, I didn't"
Me, applying reason and understanding to the argument: "Monkey, don't you ever forget things you've said?"
Monkey: "Yes, sometimes."
Me: "Don't you think that other people sometimes forget things too?"
Monkey: "How would I know? I'm not them."
That'll teach me to reason with them.
1 comment:
We had one who was absolutely certain he remembered his own words and those of others flawlessly, and was happy to correct the others, even on incidental points.
My above-average knowledge of the neurology and unreliability of memory did not sway him in the slightest. He remembered and was sure.
Mine eventually discovered that it annoyed people - not us, at first, but real people from outside the home - and mended his ways. Some never do.
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