Читать книгу The Complete Parenting Collection - Steve Biddulph, Steve Biddulph - Страница 87

Julie and her son Ben, aged eight, were in town to do some supermarket shopping. Just outside the shop they saw two girls from Ben’s class at school, sitting on the bench. Ben gave a cheery ‘Hi’ to the girls, but instead of saying ‘Hi’ back, both girls just looked at the ground and giggled!

Julie and Ben finished their shopping and went on down the street. Julie noticed that Ben was rather quiet, and asked how he was going. ‘Oh, I’m fine,’ said Ben (who, after all, is an Australian male and obliged to say this!).

Julie wasn’t put off. ‘Did it upset you that those girls just laughed and didn’t say hello?’

‘Umm … yes,’ admitted Ben.

Julie thought for a moment before replying. ‘Hmm, well I don’t know if it helps, but I remember being a girl in Third Grade. You did have your favourite boy. But it was kind of awkward. If he spoke to you, especially if you had friends around, you might get embarrassed. So you just might giggle to cover it up. I don’t know if that fits here or not.’

Ben didn’t say anything, but he seemed to be walking taller all of a sudden!

‘Anyhow, it’s lucky,’ Julie went on, ‘that we’ve forgotten the milk! So we have to go back!’ And before Ben could even gasp, she swung round right there on the footpath and headed back to the supermarket. ‘You’ll get a second chance!’ she added. The girls were still there. This time they gave their own cheery ‘Hi’, and Ben had a conversation with them while his mother searched for the milk – which took a while to find!