ABSTRACT
Children are clumsy. They throw cushions and smash vases, they spill tomato sauce onto carpets. Sometimes, their outraged parents accuse them of being careless and having no thought for others. Then, they will (red faced and defensive) turn to their parents and say ‘but I didn’t mean to do it!’ And the parent will (wisely and calmly) respond, ‘Ah, but you didn’t think about what was likely to happen.’ And then the parent and child, each knowing that they are right, will carry on being outraged and upset until they are eventually distracted by something on television and later become friends again.
