Following a tumultuous afternoon: a conversation with my chastened first-grader

Samuel: “Look at what I’m drawing, Dad.”

He shows me his LCD drawing tablet.

John-Paul: “Is that a ‘peace’ sign?”

Samuel: “Yes. Today is International Peace Day.”

John-Paul: “So it is. Did you learn that at school?”

Samuel: “Yes.”

I briefly reflect on this country’s wars. I decide to let the matter pass.

John-Paul: “That’s good.”

Samuel: “I’m drawing this ‘peace’ sign to calm myself.”

He’s banned from TV this evening.

Samuel: “Now I’m turning the ‘peace’ sign into a crying emoji.”

He does.

He presses the button to clear the screen.

Samuel: “I’m writing with a colored pencil because I’ve lost the stylus.”

I hadn’t known, or had forgotten, that the instrument is called a stylus.

He shows me the screen. He has written:

peace = calm