“Grown-‐ups should get children to do proper sensible things” Morgan Middleton Baldry, 12
Chapter One
What are grown-‐ups good at? They are good at looking after their children, doing necessary tasks such as keeping them safe, helping them with their homework, and buying food in order to keep them alive. How should we treat each other? Unless they are doing something really stupid – if someone gets a graze and they just wail, it is important to help them out but also to shush them. A broken leg is an acceptable cause to wail. When someone’s upset and sad you should look after them and make sure they’re ok. But if someone’s overreacting you should tell them to be quiet. This concept may seem tricky at first but it is clearly illustrated in Fig 1.
1
grazed knee broken leg
Fig. 1
wailing
stupid
wailing
Rine
Things the authors can cook: • Scrambled egg • Cheese on toast • Tea, coffee • A selection of microwave meals
2
The Most Important Things in Life Friends and family are the most important things in life. It’s important to be respectful of other people. Grown-‐ups can give children responsibility to help them to grow up. When they are older, they will know how to behave around other people and keep their room tidy. Some parents are too overprotective. And some are too strict. Some are embarrassing. So what could grown-‐ups do better? Don’t be too protective! Parents who won’t let their kid into the city when they’re like 16, and they’re like ‘no, you’re my precious flower’, would be an example of being too protective. They could be better by letting children do more, but they have to be sensible things. For example, going into the city or around a festival is ok, but kids should have a phone with them. 3
What do you need help with? Grown-‐ups are in charge of most things – so it’s understandable that they need help. This guide will help you to answer questions like: • What are you good at? • What’s the most important thing in life? • What should you be doing? The authors are twins with different birthdays. They have been conducting research into the lifestyle and habits of grown-‐ups for a combined total of twenty-‐four years and now finally share their discoveries in print. Editors: Liberty Martin and Rose Biggin A Swift Books Series, Copyflight 2015