go to jail

Heather Bankhead called today. Michelle asked why; was Kodi coming to play? I told her no. That Heather has a family member that is selling Cutco knives and asked if it was okay if she come give me a presentation (I already have Cutco knives and love them! I said yes, but that I would just listen ... she's in the learning process... and can't buy any more right now.)

Michelle sat quietly for a few minutes and then said, "Mom, are you going to jail?" I asked, "What? Why?"

Michelle: "Because Heather is giving your phone number and name to the knife salesperson."

Me: "Why would I go to jail?"

Michelle: "Knives are dangerous. Isn't jail like a time out? If you play with knives, you have a time out."

Me: "Well, jail is a lot like a long time out. You are in a small room with no toys and you have to stay there. But you only go to jail if you do something really bad."

Michelle: "And policemen and firemen take you there, right?"

Me: "Policemen do." (Then I explained that a judge had to decide whether you stayed in jail and emphasized that you have to pretty bad things to go to jail.

Michelle said okay and walked away. Kids' thought processes often surprise me. :) I've never really thought of jail as being like time out but as soon as she said that, it made sense to me. I've learned over the 10 years I've taught, that often when kids say things that don't seem at first to make sense that if you take the time to find out what they were thinking, often there is some interesting logic in what they are saying. I don't always take that time... but when I do, I'm often happily surprised by the things kids notice, think about, etc.