The other day, Ethan got a book from the library, about Israel. The book itself is geared more for older children (probably middle school-ish), but we looked through it and talked about the pictures and the various cultures that live there. At one point, I said there is a lot of fighting in Israel over who should get to have the land there. Ethan said, in a disgusted tone of voice, "They should just talk about it, not fight about it." Yes, they should. But I didn't delve any further into politics that go back hundreds of years. It's a bit much for my own brain to handle, let alone my 6 year old's.
Anyway, that is not the point of this post. When we finished reading, we looked at the Isreali flag. Ethan loves flags. Our walls are covered in flags we've made. He wanted to draw the Star of David, which is fairly simple, being two triangles. I told him to take the book to the table and try and draw the star. First, he started too big, so he didn't have room for the second triangle. I demonstrated. Then he tried again. He drew 3 on one page, and after the third, let out a huge groan about how "it's not right!!" His first two were pretty good, the third just didn't quite work out.
I said, "It's okay to not get it right every time."
He said, "But I WANT to get it right every time!"
Ah, that's my boy! Like mother, like son. I, too, would love to get everything right, every time. I told him that people who want to get it right every time are called perfectionists. He asked if there are other perfectionists. I said, many, including me. I also said that perfectionists have to learn to accept mistakes, including their own. Such a casual, light-hearted conversation, but with such a deep message. For me, anyway. Don't know how deep it is for him yet.
And now, this little perfectionist is going to go clean her bathroom and vacuum the floors because her house has to be SEMI-"perfect" before the babysitter comes tonight. ;) Can't let this lovely lady from our church think we're massive slobs, can I? Heh.
1 comment:
Krista,
I have one of these too. EJ is an ultimate perfectionist. I feel so bad for her as she is her own worst enemy. I try to get her to see the beauty in things even when they don't look like you had planned in your head but she does not always get that. Her emotions often get the better of her making it hard for her to see the glass half full. She is getting better as she gets older. She seems to have more patience for herself and tries things a different way if they don't work the first time. She now builds with Lego without getting angry and crying which for her is a major accomplishment. So there is hope! Besides we know perfectionist grow up to be amazing adults ;)
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