Saturday, March 22, 2008

Dad, Can I Play Soccer On Your Phone?

The eternal optimism and limitless persistence of a child has to be one of the most powerful forces in the universe. Case in point:

My husband's mobile phone came with a FIFA soccer game. My 7 year old lives to play this game, so much so that we had to institute a house rule - when his father comes home from work at night he is not allowed to ask to play until after he's at least said hello. (You can guess how Jay's entrance now sounds each night - "hi dad, can I play soccer on your phone?")

Last night as we were getting the kids into the car to drive home from a Purim party my son asked my husband (all together now) whether he could play soccer on his phone. Jay told him no, and that besides, the phone was buried in the trunk and inaccessible.

Five minutes later he asked again, knowing that a) he'd already been told no, and b) the phone wasn't even there. When I asked him, he told me that his father had already refused, and when asked where the phone was he knew it was in the trunk. So really, other than to nag for the sake of nagging, what was the point in asking? He knew that his request could not possibly be granted, but something compelled him to keep trying anyway.

If more adults managed to hold on to that persistence and optimism I suspect the world would be a very different place. Not necessarily less annoying, but probably more productive.

10 comments:

paisley said...

some of them do... and as adults... the cuteness of that form of persistence has long since worn off.....

Robin said...

Oh it wasn't all that cute. Definitely more annoying than cute, but it was that whole "hope springs eternal" thing that struck me as something we lose with the pessimism and cynicism of adulthood.

Anonymous said...

Oh, if persistence changes the world, A is right there at the forefront. ;)

Tumblewords: said...

How well I remember those kid-times. It's the 'I know the pony's in here' attitude. :) From a distance, this is the cutest story!

Trish said...

That is one of the things that has been driving me crazy around here as well. After several patient attempts to end the repeated questioning, I usually end up saying some classic mom phrase like - did you even hear what I said? or, I am not answering this again!

Laura said...

One of the hardest things I deal with my twins is understanding no. They will scream and cry and often there is nothing I can do about it. I never know what magic words or logic will finally get them to understand that its not going to change.

This post is a great way to look at something that can be very very annoying :)

Anonymous said...

My nephew takes over my cell phone whenever I visit my brother. Worst is, he changes the dial tone, ring tone and I sometimes do not know if it my phone!

dancing comes full circle

Rambler said...

I think children can be pretty stubborn, and as you say sometimes its a good thing for adults to learn from them

Janet said...

Very true!

Anonymous said...

oh yes...children can be very persistant...nice take.