Dr. B – I’ve got a simple challenge for you.
Parent – Oh, oh
Dr. B – How many times do you think you can fold a single sheet of paper?
Parent – I don’t know. Maybe ten?
Dr. B – I’ll bet you can’t do it more than seven times.
Parent – I like a good challenge. You’re on.
Dr. B – Here you go. A sheet of nice thin paper.
Parent – One … Two … Three … Four … Five … ugh
Dr. B – Do you give up?
Parent – No way. I’ve got this.
Dr. B – What are you doing?
Parent – Using my shoe.
Dr. B– And now, are you finished?
Parent – (under his breath) I can do this … I can do this
(pause)
Dr. B – I’m truly impressed. I never would have thought to soak it in water and then use the closet door as a lever.
Parent – Well, you were right. I can’t do more than seven folds. So, what’s your point? You always have a point.
Dr. B– The first few folds were easy, but the further you went, the harder they were. You really had to dig down deep to get those last two folds. Most people don’t even get that far.
Parent – If you complemented me, there must be a big “But” coming my way.
Dr. B– Ye of little faith.
Parent – A well-deserved lack of faith.
Dr. B- Most of us go through life only folding the paper two or three times.
Parent – Huh?
Dr. B– We don’t think deeply about things. We don’t question what we hear or read.
Parent – Is this a Facebook Misinformation Public Service Ad?
Dr. B– Huh. I guess maybe it is, now that you mention it. How are you going to raise your kids so they don’t fall victim to misinformation? Social media is full of it.
Parent – Take their phones away?
Dr. B – Good luck with that.
Parent – I’m sure you have an answer.
Dr. B – Ever tried to answer five “why” questions in a row?
Parent – You mean on the same subject?
Dr. B – Yeah, where each question asks you to go deeper with a subject.
Parent – I suppose you are going to tell me I can’t answer five “why” questions in a row.
Dr. B – I don’t know, but it is a fun game at our house. My kids call it “stump the chump”.
Parent – That’s not a very professional name.
Dr. B – Well, it started out as, “Stump the Adult”, but once they realized how challenging it was to answer their questions, the name change followed.
Parent – So why do you play this game?
Dr. B – It promotes thinking more deeply about topics.
Parent – And not accepting everything you hear or read as true?
Dr. B – Yeah. That too.
Parent – You realize this process can make your kids very unpopular.
Dr. B – Let’s hope so.
