Never Give Up
This is the scene in our house tonight:
Note that there is no Soren in the photo and the time I'm posting this is well after Soren has gone to bed.
The background:
I, who has never done Legos in my life, bought a set of Legos as one of those "new toys" that we like to keep in our suitcases when we travel so that Soren has something interesting to occupy himself in random hotels. Sure, it did say that it was for kid aged 6 -12. But really, I thought, how hard could it be? I now realize that the directions failed to mention that those 6 - 12 year old needed to have engineering degrees.
Anyway, we brought it on one trip and it proved to be too complex for Soren so we tucked it away for a later date. But since then Soren has been asking Peter to build it. This afternoon Peter decided to comply.
Of course, it didn't help that somehow the directions for the jet fighter were left behind in that hotel room. And probably more than a few of the pieces.
Still, Peter plugged along while Soren kept asking "Did you do it, Dad?"
Missing directions and many pieces, Peter still soldiered on. I mean how could you disappoint Soren, right?
Peter pretty much came to the conclusion that it was impossible to put together. He got up to take a break and Soren looked up and said "Are you giving up, Dad? Are you gonna quit?"
Uh oh. I mean, isn't one of the most important lessons that we are supposed to teach our kids that they shouldn't quit? That they should keep trying even when things got tough? Sure, you can say that there's sense in stopping something that just can't be done (say, when you don't have any directions or all the pieces.) But Soren's a bit young for all the subtle variations.
So, dear Peter, announced "No, buddy, I'm not giving up. I'm just taking a little break to think about it."
And when Soren wakes tomorrow he'll see that his Dad really didn't give up.
Note that there is no Soren in the photo and the time I'm posting this is well after Soren has gone to bed.The background:
I, who has never done Legos in my life, bought a set of Legos as one of those "new toys" that we like to keep in our suitcases when we travel so that Soren has something interesting to occupy himself in random hotels. Sure, it did say that it was for kid aged 6 -12. But really, I thought, how hard could it be? I now realize that the directions failed to mention that those 6 - 12 year old needed to have engineering degrees.
Anyway, we brought it on one trip and it proved to be too complex for Soren so we tucked it away for a later date. But since then Soren has been asking Peter to build it. This afternoon Peter decided to comply.
Of course, it didn't help that somehow the directions for the jet fighter were left behind in that hotel room. And probably more than a few of the pieces.
Still, Peter plugged along while Soren kept asking "Did you do it, Dad?"
Missing directions and many pieces, Peter still soldiered on. I mean how could you disappoint Soren, right?
Peter pretty much came to the conclusion that it was impossible to put together. He got up to take a break and Soren looked up and said "Are you giving up, Dad? Are you gonna quit?"
Uh oh. I mean, isn't one of the most important lessons that we are supposed to teach our kids that they shouldn't quit? That they should keep trying even when things got tough? Sure, you can say that there's sense in stopping something that just can't be done (say, when you don't have any directions or all the pieces.) But Soren's a bit young for all the subtle variations.
So, dear Peter, announced "No, buddy, I'm not giving up. I'm just taking a little break to think about it."
And when Soren wakes tomorrow he'll see that his Dad really didn't give up.
That's awesome! Way to stick it out Peter!
ReplyDeleteGoogle the directions. I'm sure they're there. That's how you figure out how to use graphing calculators and gps units with no directions.
ReplyDeleteSo, we have the lego situation too. Neal insisted the girls wanted some legos at Christmas. Ok, some of the star wars ones are hard! It took Neal hours, with no kids in sight (who do you think REALLY wanted the legos?). Then, when he finished, he told the girls, "don't play with it! It took me hours!"
Good for Peter.
We got the boys some of the small Legos for Christmas. Even following the directions I have a hard time. Those things are complicated!
ReplyDeleteSo Peter figured it out with no directions? That's impressive...takes me ages to do the tiny little ones even wih the instructions!
ReplyDeleteMay I suggest the box of little lego men we talked about at book club tonight for your next hotel trip...way easier to put together!
Finishing without directions - that's no small feat! Henry received a lego set that fell into the 6-12 year range. It took Alex, his two uncles and about four hours before his fancy lego helicopter was finished. Never mind that there were still a hand-full of pieces left or that Henry had broken it after only minutes of play time. Just don't tell Peter that part tonight.
ReplyDelete-Libby
That is amazing. I could never really do the legos thing, even with directions.
ReplyDelete