Dar en

30 August 2013

Today I learned that to "dar en" means to hit. I learned this when the two year old boy in my house grabbed my glasses off my face and his mother told me to hit him in the mouth. I told her no and the little boy did it again. She told me to hit him in the mouth again and I said I couldn't. When she asked why I said it was cruel. He grabbed the glasses again and threw them, so she really wanted me to hit him in the face (and to say that God didn't like what the boy was doing), but I scooped him into my lap for a chat. I kept thinking, "kid, can't you make this a little easier on me. I'm trying to show your mom that we don't have to injure you every time your little two-year-old curious mind touches something interesting." I looked him straight in the face and told him it was not good to take my glasses. I set him back down and told him to go pick them up. Success! The little boy ran over and picked up the glasses from where he threw them and brought them to me. I'm sure he will do something like this again. He is only two. But I'm also sure I didn't need to smack him in the face.

Now, I'm not the best parent in the world. Mostly because, I'm not a parent. I just happen to think that children aren't born knowing what is right and what is wrong in society. We have a few years when their brains are still developing to teach them the consequences, good and bad, or particular actions. We can either teach them with grace and understanding, or we can teach them that discovery and doing something you didn't even know was wrong could land you in a pile of pain crying on the ground and the only person around to comfort that pain will be the one who inflicted it.

You know, they don't warn you about what you are going to take away from Peace Corps, just that it'll be worth it. I'm taking away a lot more than I ever imagined and becoming very firm in certain beliefs. That is something I never thought would happen.