Our 5 year old dismissed a new source of bedtime stories as boring recently.
As we had barely tried this out, I thought it was an unfair assessment. So, I shared what I would be a wise quote for the ages. “I don’t think that’s right. Just because you call something stupid doesn’t make it stupid. It is possible that the thing itself is smart and you are stupid because you don’t understand it.”
Our 3.5 year old was listening to this and asked the question that was clearly top of mind for both of them – “Are you calling her stupid?”
There was no coming back from that.
I took away a couple of communication lessons from the experience.
First, know your audience and make sure you deliver a message they understand.
Second, remember that the audience will take away a salient point or two from what you communicate. Be mindful of what that might be.
Third, keep it simple when you can and as often as you can.
