SoEmo: Friday, February 13

Our SoEmo topic today was BIG WORDS, as in words that pack a punch and/or use a lot of emotional energy. This is what they have to say:

1) Favorite - This word has impact if you ask someone to select ONE thing. It makes other options feel less important. You can alleviate this by asking, "What is one of your favorite things?"  "Name a really good book you've read." or "What do you like to do when you get home?"

Favorite types of things listed that came to mind: pink, baseball, dogs, inclusivity, kindness.

2) Hate - It's important to know the energy this consumes and the feelings it stirs up. Hate should be used for things that you want to spend this type of big energy on. Do not toss it around lightly. You can dislike the taste of brocolli, you can find a piece of homework difficult, and it can be frustrating to be interrupted. Use the words you mean and save hate for hateful things.

Hateful things listed: bullying, animal cruelty, climate change, racism.

3) Mean - People are not mean when they are asking you to follow a rule or be respectful of other people. Be careful how you identify a leadership action or someone's intent. If the intention is mean, it's just mean. If someone identifies your action as mean, even if your intent was different, think about why it felt that way, apologize, and ask for clarification if you need to. However, just because you may not have liked something someone said, doesn't automatically make it mean. This one cuts both ways. 

Mean people can be discriminatory, rude, nihilistic, unforgiving, exclusive, and hurtful. 

Afterwards, we played Wits and Wagers, a game where teams try to come up with the closest answer to a question, then decide as a team which answer you actually think is closest. It's an older, fun, family game I just happen to own!

For example: one of today's questions was, "How many pages are in the hardcover version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone?" 

No answer here ... ask your child if they remember OR can come up with a close estimate!

Have a good weekend,

Mo ;-)