Monday, January 31, 2011

out-ternal

My eight-year-old friend Henry and I had a conversation about feelings today.

"Know what's the difference between kids and grown-ups?" he asked me.

"Tell me."

"Grown-ups keep their thoughts internal. Kids keep their thoughts out-ternal."

"What do you think about that?" I asked him.

"I think grown-ups do it because they think it's what they're supposed to do, but I don't think it's a good idea."

"Tell me more."

"Well, like, if you're really sad but you keep saying you're not sad, you'll just get sadder because if you don't tell anyone you're sad, how can anyone make you feel better? But for kids, it's too hard to keep their feelings inside. Like, if they're sad, they just cry and then someone helps them feel better."

"So which do you think is better?"

(Long pause)

"Well, I think grown-ups need to learn to tell someone when they're sad or mad."

"What if you're someone who has a hard time talking about your feelings?"

"Then you need to learn. Or else it will be a long time before you get healed."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Kids are amazingly smart... good story!