When I say, “Make sure you are packed and ready for tomorrow” it means two completely different things to two different people. To me, it means that all the homework is in the binder, the trumpet is by the binder and both are ready to be picked up and carried out the door in the morning. To my 11-year-old daughter it means everything needed for tomorrow is under the same roof, but not necessarily packed and ready to take to school. Note to self: must be more specific when asking tween daughter if she is ready for school.
Something that isn’t a big deal to me IS a big deal to my girls. Case in point: Grandparents Day is next week at school. My in-laws are out of town and I didn’t think it was necessary to ask my parents to fly in for what amounts to two hours of activities at school on a Friday morning. Wouldn’t the girls just love to stay home that morning since they don’t have any grandparents attending the day? WRONG! It is a big deal to them and I shouldn’t have assumed it wasn’t. So, girls will go off to grandparents day without grandparents and I will pick them up at noon and take them to lunch and out for a fun activity to make up for my gaffe.
When I ask a question and receive “Almost” as an answer, it translates to mean “I haven’t started what you asked yet, but will stop goofing off and start right now” as in “are you finished brushing your teeth” to which my younger replies “almost”. If I get “almost” as my response I have them correct themselves with a “yes” or “no”.
