Saturday, June 27, 2009

The sincerest form

Reesa came running to present me with this drawing, two people parachuting under the sun and a rainbow. What she was most proud of was that one parachute was further away (the smaller parachute, bottom right).


A few moments later, Genevieve showed me her drawing (below), and seemed to complain that her sister had been copying her. I explained briefly that this was because her sister looked up to the work she did, and that her drawing was well done and that it was a compliment to be copied in that way.
I don't know that Genevieve sees it that way. Reflexively, she wants to feel cheated that her sister is imitating her. We try to suggest that she provides an older example for her sister. The trick then is to watch out for the hint of bragging or belittling that can come. It's familiar to me. As the eldest child, I remember dealing with similar feelings when my little sister tried to copy me.

2 comments:

  1. My daughters are 7 years apart ... and the competition is fierce, still. (They are 20 and 13!)

    By the way, drawing things in perspective at 3 OR at 5 is pretty cool.

    Oh, and Happy Birthday. (Genevieve was giving me explicit instructions about telling you this, as well as telling everyone I know that it is your birthday. This was happening while you were waiting for her in the car.)

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  2. Re: the sidebar ... I am touched. Thank you. I hope you're not actually following the study guide though! :-)

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