I learned something from Gen Alpha the other day and I love it: Meanies are Weenies.
Why wasn’t this expression around when I was a kid?
I tried out a fishing game on an Oculus headset. Super cheesy, but my dad loved to fish and I thought this game would make me feel closer to him.
The funny thing is when you’re learning how to play the game they drop you on this practice island with everybody else who’s learning how to cast and catch fish. This is a pretty simple game and I could hear all these young kids talking to each other, also struggling to learn how to play.
As I was figuring out how to work everything I overheard one kid say to another “Don’t be mean. Meanies are weenies.” That cracked me up, so I repeated it, “Meanies are weenies.” And then these kids were like “Who said that?” “Someone said meanies are weenies.” That made me laugh even more.
I got such a kick out of their reaction. This was obviously something they had all heard before and weren’t used to hearing adults say. Especially in a context like this. So I’d wait a little while and then I’d say it again: “Meanies are weenies.” That would set off another chorus of all these little voices: “Who said meanies are weenies?” “I heard someone say ‘meanies are weenies.’” “Who said that?” Tickled me to pieces.
But I think this is such a great message for kids. Meanies are weenies.
So I looked it up to see… is this some kind of message that the kindergarten set are getting? I found a creator named @heykindergarten and she described hearing it in her classroom. One of her kids stood up and said “Nobody likes meanies because meanies are weenies!” It doesn’t sound like this arose spontaneously, but I like the full expression even better.
Nobody likes meanies because meanies are weenies. They are! People who get off on hurting other people, physically or by saying mean things, are weenies! It’s not cool.
A simple expression that children can understand. Spread the word to the kids in your life: Nobody likes meanies because meanies are weenies.
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Let’s make them pay.
