My mom was (and still is) a professional at leading me into the corner of shame. This is probably why, even as an adult, I fear the corners and prefer to take the steps instead of the elevator.
One time, my brothers and I decided to chuck Hot WheelsTM at each other, turning a game of hide and go seek into a deadly encounter. With no concern for consequences, we executed our poorly conceived plan to perfection.
Naturally, my mother found out.
While forcing awkward eye contact, my mom glared at me. “Brandon, why did you do that?” I shrugged and stared at the ground. “I’m sorry, but I don’t speak shoulder shrugs. Use your words?”
“I don’t know…”
“What do you mean you don’t know? Were you outside of your body?” (I’d shake my head). “So how don’t you know?”
Silence.
“Sorry, I missed that. You’ll have to speak up,” she prodded, leading me to that inescapable corner.
“I wanted to I guess.” In retrospect, I don’t know how she kept a straight face after capturing her prey so easily.
“Oh, so you’re just going to do what you wanna do, huh? What if I just do what I want to do? Would you like that?” God, I hated it when she said that. It was always followed-up with something unpleasant.
In those moments, my mom taught me critical thinking skills, the ability to see into the path I was taking and perhaps, see into the future of the path I didn’t. Now, I can see situations from varying perspectives and these critical thinking skills will continue to serve me.
How did you teach your children critical thinking skills? Did they work? What would you do different?