Analog life

The art of apology…how to get it into Lola’s head?

She just woke up grumpy and told me she missed the school disco last night because she is at my place.

I said “I am sorry you missed the disco”.

She said “yeah right”. And then something to the effect that she is only interested in solutions. Time machine?

In fact she finds it impossible to apologise if she thinks she is in the right. And it’s just difficult for her to apologise otherwise. It’s going to be a tough twenty years ahead for her

Last night we were talking to the grumpy old Irish neighbour. He was complaining about the “kids” that smashed his car mirror. I happen to know that he did it himself whilst driving past a truck the other day; he didn’t notice.

I told Lola the story. She said “that’s lying”.

I said “No its not – it’s just withholding the truth. If I had told him he would have been upset with himself, maybe me and he may not have believed me. And he still would have had a broken mirror to fix”.

I think this set of interpretations represents two sides of the same coin.

Lola currently believes in absolutes. She hasn’t fully comprehended how much we really live in the grey.

All you can really do as a parent is tell them what you have learnt and believe. And then wait for life to catch up with their prejudices.

The good news is that Lola is already bending the truth for her own ends. Incipient analog life philosophy!