"One day in an emergency waiting room, a little girl turned to her mother and asked, 'What is sex?' People turned their full attention to her Mom. This was better than whatever was on the waiting-room television - better than Jerry Springer. This was real life. How do you answer a six-year-old girl?
What is sex? This is one hot topic. Kids seem to know so much more than today's adults did at their age; they are exposed to so much more these days on television and at the movies. How was Mom going to answer?
There are some who would just go ahead and answer the question right away, like they not only know the answer, but understand the question. So there was curiosity about how Mom is going to tell this little girl about how babies are made. Or how Mom was going to dodge this difficult question. Was Mom going to talk to a little child about safe sex? Surely Mom was not going to talk about ways to have sex; although you just really never know what might happen in the emergency room.
But her Mom surprised everyone; possibly because she didn't think in the way of the others or respond the way people would usually respond. Instead, she pauses. Hardly anyone pauses. She then thoughtfully asks her daughter, 'What do you mean, dear?'
The little girl responds, 'Well, Mom, I was looking at this paper and it says sex - M/F. Am I an M or an F?' Mom's face breaks into a huge smile.
The waiting room patrons resume their usual chatter. And some laugh. Some would have answered the wrong questions. The mom had heard the question, and had listened to what the little girl was saying."
Usually we are in a hurry to say what we think rather than understand what others need ..:)
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha...you made me giggle actually.Sometimes v as adults think too much,but only a mom can understand a child's innocence
ReplyDeleteyes, there is a big chasm between hearing and listening, as a former transcriptionist,i can vouch for that :)
ReplyDelete