In the van, on the way to Taekwondo, Joseph and I had this conversation.
Joseph: Mom… David is mean to me.
Me: Well, then don’t play with him.
Joseph: But, Mom… that confuses me. You tell me not to play with him, but at church, they say we should play with people even if they are mean.
[insert me grinning from ear to ear although he can’t see it because I’m driving.]
Me: Well… you’re right. If David is mean to you while you’re playing, tell him that you don’t like that and if he doesn’t stop, you leave. But, if later, he comes to get you and isn’t being mean, then, yes, go play. God tells us to love everyone, but that doesn’t mean you have to play with mean people while they are being mean to you.
Joseph: He lies too. He got his brother in trouble. He said his brother said “zip-it” but he didn’t. And he told me that he would say I said “zip-it”, but I didn’t!
[Insert me trying really hard not to laugh… this is serious stuff!!]
Me: Well… did you say “zip-it?”
Joseph: No, but David says he will say I did.
Me: If you know that someone is lying, and you know the truth, you need to tell an adult. And, by the way, I don’t really think “zip-it” is all that bad. It’s not really a nice way to say “be quiet” but it’s really not bad. 🙂
Joseph: But David lies.
Me: Then, you tell the truth. Always.
At dinner, we repeated this conversation with Ron… with much the same form and format.
Both of us are incredibly proud of Joseph AND amazed because he didn’t get this thought-provoking information from us… he got it from Club Riot! Go church!