Monday, November 26, 2007
A small moral dilemma
A non dilema to start. Friday had me meeting the lovely Z. She is as delightful in person as in print. These bloggy friendships are funny things, on meeting someone for the first time you know so much about them. Makes for easy conversation though!
On to the dilemma. We had some friends over for lunch on Sunday. Our kids had been at the same school until we moved ours away, and this was a first attempt to keep the relationship going. All in all it went well. The conversation flowed easily (as did the wine), the kids played well together.
We went for a walk, and their two year old daughter threw a bit of a wobbly. It wasn't a problem, just amused me that we were thankfully passed that stage. The day felt like a good one.
Just one small problem that we found out later. Their oldest daughter (aged six) had raided the boy's sweety stash. When I say raided I mean scoffed down the lot. These are the ones they buy with their own pocket money. They're really good about their sweeties, and can make a roll of wine gums last weeks only having one or two a day.
The boys were understandably upset and we promised to replace them. That cheered them up a bit as it means a whole role for a half finished one. The small child moral outrage is a bit harder to answer, but in a way its a good life leason. Even nice people do wrong things sometimes. The conversation with the kids was a good one.
The problem is what do we do about it outside the family? If one of ours did something like that, and we were told it would be hugely embaressing, but I'd be grateful. Problem is, not every parent reacts the same way. We'd like to see this family again and mentioning something small like this could stop the friendship cold. It could be perceived as being petty and spiteful at worst, at best the embaressment could many any future get togethers awkward.
What a shame, what a shame, and what to do, what to do...
On to the dilemma. We had some friends over for lunch on Sunday. Our kids had been at the same school until we moved ours away, and this was a first attempt to keep the relationship going. All in all it went well. The conversation flowed easily (as did the wine), the kids played well together.
We went for a walk, and their two year old daughter threw a bit of a wobbly. It wasn't a problem, just amused me that we were thankfully passed that stage. The day felt like a good one.
Just one small problem that we found out later. Their oldest daughter (aged six) had raided the boy's sweety stash. When I say raided I mean scoffed down the lot. These are the ones they buy with their own pocket money. They're really good about their sweeties, and can make a roll of wine gums last weeks only having one or two a day.
The boys were understandably upset and we promised to replace them. That cheered them up a bit as it means a whole role for a half finished one. The small child moral outrage is a bit harder to answer, but in a way its a good life leason. Even nice people do wrong things sometimes. The conversation with the kids was a good one.
The problem is what do we do about it outside the family? If one of ours did something like that, and we were told it would be hugely embaressing, but I'd be grateful. Problem is, not every parent reacts the same way. We'd like to see this family again and mentioning something small like this could stop the friendship cold. It could be perceived as being petty and spiteful at worst, at best the embaressment could many any future get togethers awkward.
What a shame, what a shame, and what to do, what to do...
