26 —- North Shore News -— Wednesday, May 10, 2000 Words hurt as much From page 21 thing is wrong. A child with a fragile self- esteem can easily succumb to this kind of kidding, withdraw- ing from interaction much of the time despite laughing ner- vously when the put downs are flying around. Many adults, parents and teachers alike, sim- Plus, use your: | Sears Card and and get doubl ply cannot tell what effect their comments and jokes are hav- ing. I think we need to be very careful of personal sarcasm as a form of joking with our chil- dren. At the very least, we should keep it private, in quiet moments together when we are all enjoying each other's company. And if we use sar- casn? at all, as we are all prone to do from time to ume, we should be sure to reinforce that we are kidding and sur- round the sarcasm with some honest compliments, you know, sort of sugar-coat it. Above all, we should monitor our children’s reactions to our comments and be prepared to apologize if we burt their feel- dic’ sleep sets are and all furniture’ is onsale - or at Special Purchase prices _ ‘Sale prices end Sunday, May 4, or. where Sears i is elosed, Saturday, May 23, 2060 Pay no interest 'til acne as sticks and stones ings or pick a particularly sen- sitive moment to rub some- thing i in. a didn’t mean noth- in’ by it,” won't count for much if we have publicly hunuliated them. “I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you in front of your frends and I won't do that again,” has a lit- tle more meat to it. Of course, there is another reason to be sensitive about sarcastic Comments; Wey"re coming, back to you eventually. The other day my eleven-vear- old asked if I wanted to play croauet with him because it was a kind of “geezer game.” I admit I lost it and knocked his ball all over the lawn for revenge. “Geezer, ch?” I said as f hit the last post and spiked my mallet into the ground in victory. He simply smiled, well aware that after all these years of my kidding about his sensi- tivities, he had found a button he could | push in kidding me about mine. — Graham Hookey. is the author of Parenting Is A Team Sport. oe Exclusive to Sears oo * integrated coil series vps x 10-year warranty; details i in store Available in Tezin to King | sizes: + Sleep sets from Sears are. Canade’s Best Sellers"? "Based on independent current at time of advertising preperation 1/2 e Sears Club poin on all furniture” and sleep sets. price No interest’ offer: Pay i in 20 equal monthly pcyments, interest free, until Janvery 2002. Minimum $200 purchote. $35 deferral foe and all applicable taxes and charges ore , poyable at time of purchas “When billed, any unpald portion of your Sears account balance will attract credit charges, commencing the following month. Excludes Catalogue purchases. Offer ends Sunday, May 14, of where Secr: closed, Saturday, May 13, 2000. “Double Sears Club points’ offer: Sears Club members can got double. Sears Club points on alt furniture’ and sleep sets. Offer excludes deferral foes, d .. Maintenance agreement and installstion charges. For orders from our currant Catalogues, state this Bonus Offer numbar: 94 16 22236 to get your double Sears Club points, Offer in effect Saturday, May 13 and, where Sears is opan, Sunday, May 14, 2000. Both offers: On approved credit, with your Sears Card. Exclude items in our tiquidation/Outler stores. Ask for details. “D/601 Furniture Shop; excludes baby and patio furniture in our Sears Retail Mall stores NPO521000 a Spee ee ee ay a" ee ae a ee re ad gE Wale ne be |.