Judgement

The innocence of a 3 year old is precious. He doesn’t want to hurt people’s feelings, and if/when he does, it is not intentional in any way, shape, or form. The child has NO understanding of being judgmental, or what it feels like to be judged. For his sake, I hope that it is a long time before he ever feels that he is being judged. That being said, Charlie can innocently be very judgmental sometimes.

 Earlier this week, after I picked Charlie up from daycare we were having a nice conversation on the way home about the never-ending construction by our house. I was going the speed limit, we were both buckled up, I was NOT on my cell phone – I was being a responsible driver and obeying the basic traffic rules. Until that light turned yellow. I saw it, was somewhat in a hurry to get home, and in my head I said “Screw it. I’m going for it.” No big deal, it didn’t turn red until we were ¾ the way through the intersection. Then it came, from my sweet little angel in the back seat…

Charlie: Mommy, you just went through red.

Mommy: I know Charlie, it was an accident.

Charlie: Mommy, green means go.

Mommy: Thank you Charlie, I know that.

Charlie: Mommy, red means stop.

Mommy: THANK YOU CHARLIE FOR POINTING THAT OUT TO ME.

 

My gosh. Give me a break kid. I understand that Charlie is a very observant child, and he is pretty darn intelligent, but man it was almost like I wanted to say, “Ya know what kid, I feed you, clothe you, keep you safe, read to you, a little leniency on the red light running would be appreciated.”

For now, I will not worry about my judgmental 3 year old. After he understands the concept (hopefully a long time from now) he and I will have many a chats about being as non-judgmental as possible.