On our way to my cousin's house last weekend, the tricycle took a different and unfamiliar route. To my surprise, Faith, my 6-year old daughter suddenly remarked that she's been there before and then she pointed at the house of a former nanny.
I don't particularly like this nanny because she's quite nosy and she used to rummage through my stuffs as soon as I'm gone to work. However, Faith seems to have a different opinion. She said she likes her. Rather than explain to her why I feel otherwise, I told her that I prefer her last nanny because she's nicer. Oddly enough, she said she doesn't remember her even though she was with us longer and it was only early this year that she's resigned.
So I tried to describe her and recounted some instances when she was still with us. It took awhile before Faith excitedly blurted out that she knows who she is. She said, "She's that brown girl!”
It was hard to keep a straight face whilst I lecture her about manners and tact, especially after she asked me afterward if it's the same as not saying bad words like stupid and “pac man!”
I don't particularly like this nanny because she's quite nosy and she used to rummage through my stuffs as soon as I'm gone to work. However, Faith seems to have a different opinion. She said she likes her. Rather than explain to her why I feel otherwise, I told her that I prefer her last nanny because she's nicer. Oddly enough, she said she doesn't remember her even though she was with us longer and it was only early this year that she's resigned.
So I tried to describe her and recounted some instances when she was still with us. It took awhile before Faith excitedly blurted out that she knows who she is. She said, "She's that brown girl!”
It was hard to keep a straight face whilst I lecture her about manners and tact, especially after she asked me afterward if it's the same as not saying bad words like stupid and “pac man!”
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Empathy is the basis for tact, says Cheryl Park, coordinator of early childhood education for Cambrian College in Sudbury, Ontario. “Before about six years of age, children are primarily egocentric — they can’t take in another person’s feelings. But six- to eight-year-olds have undergone a major shift in their thinking; they are in a different place. They are more able to understand how other people might feel.” That understanding is what makes kids realize what might hurt another’s feelings, and want to avoid doing so.
Developing tact is such a slow process that parents need to have a lot of interaction in these situations, until kids are comfortable enough and have developed and practised the scripts,” says Park. “You’re not going to have instantly tactful children.”
Learning to Be Tactful
by Holly Bennett
Developing tact is such a slow process that parents need to have a lot of interaction in these situations, until kids are comfortable enough and have developed and practised the scripts,” says Park. “You’re not going to have instantly tactful children.”
Learning to Be Tactful
by Holly Bennett
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