video; un: li_min

[kiss_it_better]

Does anyone have advice for how to get children to enjoy school a little more? I don't think bribery is a long term solution but I will admit, this is not something I know much about.

[He had been the sort of child who enjoyed learning and practising...but he knew it was because it was always a better alternative than staying home.]

If it helps, the child in question seems to dislike tests and it seems like she'd rather spend the day in a different class with a friend.

[Or run away from school, apparently?]

Comments

[kiss_it_better]

She doesn't seem to be. [He sighs a little but smiles regardless.] I met her not too long ago so I'm still getting to know her better.

[mushroomaficionado]

Oh she isn't a relative of yours? Do you think it might be that your words hold a little less weight then?

[kiss_it_better]

Ah, I am sure that's part of it. Still, she seems like the kind of child who takes other people's words into consideration.

[But she's like, five??? So perhaps keeping it in mind consistently is a problem.]

[mushroomaficionado]

Then it might be best to be polite but persistent.

[Yeah being a five year old does change the context a bit.]

[kiss_it_better]

Mm. [He smiles.] It's a little embarrassing, [Though he sounds more mildly amused than embarrassed.] But I hoped a little that someone might have more immediate solutions.

[But he supposed those don't exist.]

[mushroomaficionado]

I apologize for not being of more assistance. That said, while I have grown out of that phase, I would say you have to let it pass. And I do have a brother who is like that sometimes. You can't exactly force him to do anything he doesn't wish to, especially tests and the like.

[Granted a moody seventeen year old is probably different than a small child]

So I would say that even if she is grudging about her tests, that's better than nothing.

[kiss_it_better]

No, you brought up some good points. Even confirmation that there isn't much else besides to be patient is good to have.

[He laughs a little, short and soft.]

Considering I ran away from home at seventeen over a disagreement, I suppose I should know a thing or two about not forcing things.

[mushroomaficionado]

Hmmm, so you were around my age when you left your family, huh?

I will admit, I do not have that much experience with children other than the ones who sometimes visited my school back home, but I think that yes, sometimes they have to be allowed a little reign. Not too much that they become lost, but enough to find themselves.

[Granted, Jade and his brother probably had been given a little too much freedom.]

[kiss_it_better]

[That is a complicated question. He ran away from home but he essentially had no family. Not in the sense most people thought of. Gu Yun was family, he supposed, but not of the platonic sort.

But that was a topic for another time, he supposed.]

That time, I was.

[He…has actually run away from home more than one time.]

I had helped some acquaintances with their children now and again, but I have little experience as well. [Hence, all this.] You and your brother sound like you’re close.

[mushroomaficionado]

[It's tempting to pry further since Jade is a curious sort and likes finding info that may or may not be useful. But he also decides to hold back a little.]

That must have been difficult.

[It's actually sincere because Jade's never been ignorant of the privilege he's grown up within his own family. Despite being difficult personalities, he and Floyd have always been indulged.]

We are. We are twins, so I would hope so. Though he can be a little difficult sometimes.

[kiss_it_better]

It wasn't all that difficult. I was only a little too stubborn, that's all.

<[Stubborn and also dealing with some stuff like crushing on Gu Yun and also being cursed. But stubborness had played a large role in the way things had played out.]

From what I've heard, it seems that is the way of siblings. [He thinks Shen Yi and Gu Yun's friendship is a little like that.] If you don't mind me asking, is your brother here with you?

[mushroomaficionado]

I see. Though isn't everyone a little stubborn some of the time?

[Geniuenly pliable people were rare he found.]

He is. He came quite a bit later than me. He's a lot more flamboyant in personality. I arrived the same week as our birthday, so I've been picking on him about it.

[kiss_it_better]

It is especially common, I suppose, at the age I'd been.

[All teenagers are a little rebellious, he supposed.]

Because you are technically older now?

[mushroomaficionado]

[Indeed, though some keep that spirit below the surface.]

Yes. It is very amusing. He wishes to have two birthdays to make up for it.