When one's children get a bit older, one has to deal with constant tattletaling. "Mom, Ethan took my crayons." "Dad, Jonathan messed up my Legoes." "Mom, Eva is copying me."
But the other night, I was stumped. Here's what came from one child's mouth as everyone was settling into bed:
"Daa-aad, Christine said I'm a tattletale."
So a question: how does one deal with tattletales? It's a bad thing, it seems to me, for children to learn to settle their differences by immediately squealing to their parents. But sometimes we parents need to know.
ReplyDeleteHow to stop it?
ReplyDelete"If there is blood or a mess, I need to know."
Otherwise, I require the poor hapless "victim" not to play with this big mean awful bully for the rest of the day.
I make them both watch Rashomon. Punishment enough for all.
ReplyDelete