One summer day I was sitting on the back porch with my then toddler son. He was standing next to a large empty hammock and was pushing it back and forth. The momentum was increasing and I was worried that it would eventually come back too fast and knock him over. I said to him, “be careful sweetie.” He continued to push the hammock. I said to him again with more concern, “be careful!” He looked at me with a puzzled face and asked, “What is careful?” I realized that I had not made it clear what I really wanted. I had not talked to him about what was worrying me. My saying, “be careful” meant nothing to him. I think about this a lot when I find myself speaking in generalities and admonishing my kids to “be careful” online, or “be good.” Being specific is an essential part of teaching children how to analyze a situation and make a decision on what they should do about it. We need to teach them what it means to be careful, good, or bad. The ultimate goal is to teach our child
Beginning in 1848 when gold was first discovered in California, thousands moved west hoping to find chunks of precious gold metal in the hills and become wealthy. I went on a field trip with my daughter’s school class to learn about the Gold Rush and was shown a big chunk of shiny gold rock called iron pyrite. We all were impressed by it, and were told how many gold miners came across these large golden chunks and thought that they had struck it rich. After they had gathered up all of this rock they could find, they tried to cash it in at the bank. They were told it was completely worthless. They had been fooled by its appearance. Iron pyrite does not contain the unique properties that give true gold its value. In fact it is not even a metal. It is made up of iron and sulfur. Hence the nick-name for it became “fool’s gold.” All the time those prospectors had spent gathering this sparkling rock had been a completely wasted. They had nothing that they could turn in for