Text the Lemons

It's interesting how much of a difference there can be between what we hear and what is actually said.

My kids, like several million others, thoroughly enjoy the movie "Frozen." When they were already trying to sing the songs after just seeing it once at the theater, it seemed like a good idea for me to buy the soundtrack. They both rarely ever want to listen to anything else, and they have essentially memorized all the lyrics to the singing songs.

Right before everyone's favorite Elsa song, my daughter asks me, "Daddy, do you want to hear me sing the next song?"

"Of course I do!" I reply. She doesn't need any more encouragement and begins to belt out "Let It Go" as if she were Adele Dazeem herself.

I listen in fascination as my four-year-old matches pitches and words perfectly, but then, in the second verse, she changes the words. One line in the song says, "To test the limits and break through!" My daughter, without lacking confidence, sings, "To text the lemons and break through!"

While the original line and the misconception line sound very similar, there is a very big difference between testing limits (which could prove to enhance experiences and strengthen convictions) and texting lemons (which could prove to be completely useless and won't get any good replies).

How often are our regular conversations like that? We think we're understanding each other just fine, but when it comes time to put our understanding into action, it's quite different from the initial intention.

Perhaps we should give more grace when we're misunderstood. Perhaps we should strive to ask more questions and focus better to make sure we understand.

And maybe we should text the lemons, just to find out what happens.