Lucinda and I have been talking about social situations in 1st grade, and I liked the dialogue enough to share it. One background detail: In Japan, children often settle disputes by playing "rock, paper, scissors," or "jankenpoi."
On Friday night, Lucinda told me that she and a friend, Anathea, disagreed about how they would play tag at recess. Lucinda preferred "fairy tag," and Anathea wanted "zebra tag." So they did jankenpoi and Lucinda won repeatedly; Anathea got upset. What, Lucinda asked me, should she do in that situation? I told her to think it over and we'd discuss the next day.
Yesterday (Saturday) I took her to a clothing store and lunch in Omotesando, while Blaine took Arno to the park to play baseball. On the train, Lucinda and I talked things over.
Me: Did you think about your choices in the situation with Anathea? What could you do when a friend is upset about losing?
Lucinda: I could tell her that the next time, I'd be "scissors" and she should be "rock."
Me: That's a good idea. What else could you do?
Lucinda: I could tell her that I'd be "rock" and she could be "paper."
Me: Okay, you could set it up so that she would win and feel better. What else could you do?
Lucinda: I could say that we could play zebra tag first and then fairy tag.
Me: What else?
Lucinda: Well, since I won, I could tell her that we could play fairy tag and then zebra tag.
Children are so literal sometimes, but they also eventually assess the big picture.
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