City Boy Learns a Secret

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to interact with a 5-year-old boy named Joshua. This little blonde, blue-eyed boy was curious about many things, and I was surprised at how well he assimilated knowledge from his parents, older siblings, kindergarten teacher and others in his life. Joshua is our youngest grandson. 


They were living in Virginia, and he told me about a trip he had recently taken to the National Zoo in Washington, DC, and he saw a white wolf, a gray wolf, lions, tigers, elephants, monkeys, alligators, and crocodiles. He talked about huge turtles and rattlesnakes (I could tell snakes were not something he liked).


I spent about 5 minutes talking with him before he told me he saw a farm at the zoo, so I asked if he ever saw a cow being milked to which he responded, “No”.


I did a Google search and found a short video on milking cows and for the next 3-4 minutes he was quiet and engrossed in watching and learning how we get milk from cows. He was curious and asked many questions, one of which was “Does it hurt the cow?” I explained that it didn’t and that the cow felt much better after being milked. 


We talked for several minutes about milking cows before it was time for him to go to bed, but the next morning he wanted to talk more. I was not around for breakfast but later his mom told me what he said.


According to his mother Joshua excitedly announced to the family, “When you get the milk you don’t have to kill the cow. All you have to do is pull on those things that hang down.”


Little children are so innocent, loveable, and absorb everything. What a great time to teach them about life, starting with baby steps. This is a good time to help them along their road of life. Helping our children feel comfortable talking to us about anything will bless all our lives.


Happy Failing Forward,

Calvert


PS Want to help your kids have less stress and more success at home and school? CLICK HERE to get a copy of our book, The Resiliency Toolkit: A Busy Parent’s Guide to Raising Happy, Confident, Successful Children.