gnumatt

Life's little questions

A girl came bouncing out of her house with a cigarette in her hand as Emily and I walked by yesterday. Emily quietly informed me that “I think people who smoke have bad instincts.” She tried wrapping her brain around why anyone would do something that would eventually kill them. I tried reminding her that it’s not that simple for smokers and that we all do things that aren’t good for us. She settled on being happy that nobody in her family smokes. I was happy with that too.

Later she surprised me by telling me she sometimes wonders if she’s supposed to be a boy. When I asked her why she thought that she said “I like cool things. I like violence.” I was surprised by the violence remark. She clarified it by reiterating her abhorrence for violence in real life but her enjoyment of fantasy violence in books, movies, or TV. I reminded her that not all girls are the same and she shouldn’t feel like she’s less of a girl because she doesn’t like the same things as one or two that she knows.