Isn’t it cute how kids idolize Disney characters and they want to be just like Mulan, or Aladdin, etc.? There is a limit to what the kids are willing to do. For example, I was lucky to visit my cousin in California. She’s eight and absolutely adorable. She also an only child so she’s just a teensy bit spoiled…….but it works for me….this gave me another chance to go see Mulan! :) At any rate, my family stayed at her (my aunt’s and grandparents’) house and there happened to be a minor invasion of the kitchen counter by ants. My cousin took one look at the crawling little insects and called for her mom. She then told her mom to kill the ants (btw – if the conversation looks really low-level, it’s just my translation from spoken Chinese):
C: Ahhh! There are ants on the sink! Mom – kill them, kill them.
A: Why don’t you kill them?
C: Because I don’t want to; I’m scared of them.
A: That’s funny. Don’t you often kill bugs at school and brag about it when you come home?
C: Yes.
A: If you’re scared of bugs, then how is it that you’re able to kill them at school?
C: Because all the other kids are scared of bugs and they think I’m brave.
A: I think you’re brave; why don’t you go kill those ants?
C: No! I’m not brave.
My aunt saw that she was getting nowhere so she tried another method to convince my cousin to kill the ants herself.
A: You want to be like Mulan, right?
C: Uh-huh.
A: Isn’t Mulan brave?
C: Yes.
A: And you’re just like Mulan; you’re brave like her.
C: Yeah….
A: So why don’t you be like Mulan and kill those ants?
C: Noooo! I’m not brave; I don’t want to be like Mulan, anymore.
So my aunt gave up on that and the ants were still happily crawling and exploring the kitchen counter, unharmed. Lucky them. :)
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