What Do You Think?

To round up a term of study on the topic of Minibeasts, our big girl will be having a Bug Ball with the rest of the junior school tomorrow. To that end, they've been invited to dress up as their favourite bug. She's spent the last couple of days putting together her costume: a set of butterfly wings with matching accessories. She's taken the lead on this one, with me simply supervising and helping with some of the trickier bits (ie. sewing). She's extremely happy with the outcome and can't wait to put this on at school tomorrow.

This term, the lads in our big boy's class have developed a rather interesting obsession with the pigeon (pronounced "pee-zhon", a la faux French). They started a pigeon club, fed the pigeons at lunch time (with their food from their lunchbox, until they got told off by the teachers), and went to great lengths to extol the intelligence and greatness of these two-legged bird brains.

A few days ago, though, our big boy came home with this:

Him: The boys in my class have come up with a pigeon god. 

Me: Hmm. What do you think of that?

Him: I don't agree with it.

Me: Me too. What do they do with it?

Him: They praise it, and stuff. I think it's taking things a bit too far. Could you speak to A's mum about it?

Me: No, I don't think I can, but if you feel comfortable, you can always talk to your friends about it. 

Today:

Him: I asked my friends about why they came up with the pigeon god, and they told me that the pigeon god is just "God", because He made the pigeons. But then, I don't understand why they just don't say God.

Me: It's good you managed to talk to them. What do you think about all this?

Him: I still don't agree with it. 

Two things I've taken away from this little episode: 

• I'm proud of our big boy for having the wisdom to realise when fun and games crosses a line, and being able to take a step back from it. This, in spite of the fact that one of the boys that created said pigeon god was his best friend. 
• The question "What do you think?" is an incredibly handy tool! For one, it buys ME time to think and craft a response, but it also allows my child to process and lead the discussion with his perspective, not mine. I usually weigh in a little later, but it helps to hear him out first.

And oh yes! Happy Michaelmas, aka Feast of the Archangels! Our little man celebrates his feast day today, and we remembered the occasion with cake for dessert and a special prayer in the evening.