Yesterday, as Michael was overseeing finger painting (for which he gets a lot of folks out of purgatory, since finger painting is something he really doesn't like...and the kids both used the occasion to have fits -- over different things, at different times, but both having something to do with the finger painting), I overheard this exchange:
Naomi: Look, Dada! (She holds up her hand, which she's covered entirely -- front, back, sides -- in finger paint.)
Michael: Naomi, that's crazy!
Hannah: Dada, we need to work on encouraging Naomi, not telling her she's crazy.
Of course, lately I've been exhorting Hannah to encourage Naomi, not tell her she can't do things, not tell her that her idea is ridiculous, not tell her that her bear drawing doesn't look like a bear, not tell her that she has no idea what the heck she's doing. I'm not sure my exhortations are affecting Hannah's behavior at all, but apparently she at least hears me and internalizes it enough to rebuke Michael. Very comforting.
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