I love teachable moments, especially if it will help keep the kids close to one another and me. I am needy.
The other day I had to drop the oldest off in front of a group of new kids at a video game making class. He tried to get rid of me but really he’s 11 and it was my responsibility to make a handoff to the teacher. So I told him, “hey your real friends see us together all the time, so if I am good enough for your real friends I am good enough for these punks”. We are working on it.