Mr E was drawing the sun, earth & moon on the doodling board. Seeing him having an interest in the outer space, we started our little chat about it.
I asked him how come his moon is as big as the sun? (which is normal for a 6yo to draw that way) So, I tried to talk to him about perspective. BUT, before I even started on it, I already noticed him giving a very proud, “what do you know about space” look.
And it suddenly dawn upon me on a reason why Mr E and have been having problem communicating.
Me: “E, why that look on your face?”
Mr E: Blank
Me: “Are you actually thinking mummy is not as smart as you?”
Mr E: Nodded his head!!!!
BINGO!!!
Me, in my as arrogant self, started asking him many questions:
“Do you know all your spellings already? Can you spell television? aquarium? wonderful? beautiful?”
Of course this young man go shaking his head.
“What about this: Can you tell me how does the respiratory system in you body works? what about the digestive system? etc etc”
My last question:
“Uh, you know something about solar system. Now, name me all the planets in sequence from the nearest to the furthest from the sun.”
Mr E: “I know pluto is furthest from the sun.”
Me: “Good try but only half right, cause this last 2 years, pluto has been announced that it is no longer part of the solar system”
Finally, this young man, 6yo, realised that mummy is not stupid. I know the way I did really sound so harsh, but one have to be here to see & experience him how arrogant he is. The way he sometimes ask me “How do you know?! Are you sure?”
If only I can capture that look on a camera, see it to believe. It is not even pride, it is arrogance!
I ended it all up telling him about humility, about how much more things, he, as a 6yo, has to read and learn. Told him that he is a very bright boy, and 1 day, when he is in the college or university, I’m sure HE WILL BE SMARTER THAN ME. But meanwhile, there are really a lot more for him to learn and grow. Even when he is really smart, he has to realise that:
-
God is the wisest & smartest in the entire universe
-
He has to be humble
Anyway, at the end of it, I can see that some sense seem to have been knocked into his mind. For the rest of the time, he certainly look more normal.
On the lighter note: Since both his daddy and mummy are Teochews, is this Teochew syndrome? (Teochews are known to be quite arrogant people among the dialect groups.)
PS: No offence for the Teochews since I myself am one. And, I am certain that there are better ways to handle this, just that at this moment in time, I really have no idea how could I have done it better.
What Friends Say