狗的眼睛是鹹的 Salty Dog Eye

昨天Vivian上大提琴課的時候，她的老師對她女兒有些小小的抱怨。她說不知道為什麼，最近她女兒變得很不容易溝通。舉個例子，早晨穿衣服時，她不是嫌顔色太花，就是袖子太短，要不然太厚了，否則又太緊了，反正不論做什麼都不對就是了。她擔心現在就這樣，十幾歲時還得了。我問她女兒是不是七歲了，果然，她馬上就要過七歲生日了。我笑笑對她說，過一段時間就好了，因為我自己也是過來人。

小時候哥哥是我的偶像，無論在家或是在外頭玩，我老喜歡拖著兩條小辮子和兩道鼻涕跟在他後邊跑，他常常被我弄得受不了。記得有一段時間，他開始對我說「七歲八歲狗眼鹹」。那時我童智未開，知道的字彙有限，所以不明白為什麼狗的眼睛是鹹的。既然哥哥是對我說的，跟我一定有什麼關係，又不太敢問他。後來問媽媽這句話是什麼意思，媽媽才告訴我，七八歲的小孩子，連狗看了都討厭。哦，原來是「狗眼嫌」哪！後來自己有了女兒，等她長到七歲的時候我才發現，天哪！狗的眼睛真的是鹹的！！

如果你家有這個年紀的小孩，而你又剛剛好嚐到鹹鹹的味道，感謝神！神給了你一個鍛煉的機會，讓你在孩子進入青少年期之前，先來個實戰演習，才不會到時後措手不及，不戰而降。

Yesterday during Vivian's cello lesson, her teacher complained about her daughter. She said that she doesn't know why but her daughter has been very difficult to deal with recently. Take dressing her up in the morning for example, if she doesn't complain about the sleeves being too short, then she must hate the color; otherwise it is either too thick or too tight. She was worried that she will not be able handle her daughter when she becomes a teenager. I asked if she is seven now and she said yes. I told her not to worry too much, it is normal for a 7-year-old kid to behave this way. I have been there and done that myself.

When I was little, my big brother was my idol. I always loved to follow him wherever he went. He must have felt miserable at that time. At one point he started to say "7-year-old, 8-year-old, even dogs don't want to see you" to me. I didn't really understand what it meant at first. I was wondering why dogs' eye balls are salty? (The pronunciation is the same in Chinese). I knew it must have something to do with me, but I didn't dare to ask him. After I checked with my mom, then I realized it means that even dogs don't want to see a kid when s/he is at the age of 7 or 8. Ouch!... Then I have my own daughter. When she turned 7, oh my, the dogs' eye balls are really salty!!

If you happened to have a kid at 7 or 8 at home, and you happened to feel the same way, praise the Lord! Because He has given you an opportunity to practice and train up yourself before your child turns into a teenager.