"Aunty, Aunty come and watch bom bom"

I got furious because I remembered I left these children on a cartoon Network with a Stern warning not to change the channel.

I left the clothes and stormed into the house. I thought they didn't take my warning seriously and have changed the channel to one of these music channels that stream songs with nudity. I was already thinking about what I would do to them when I lay my hands on one of them. 

To my surprise I entered the sitting room and met all three of them sitting orderly watching a cartoon. Then my little nephew who had ran to me earlier said to me 

"Aunty sit down let's watch bom bom" I began to laugh at myself because I misunderstood what he was saying to me. He is barely 2years old and have not got his pronunciation correctly as such pronounces SpongeBob as bom bom.

But I was already burning with anger and what if I had hit a child before paying attention to what is actually going on ?

That's how dangerous misinformation is. 

Sometimes we do not understand what we think we understand and don't know what we think we know.

So when someone is talking listen to them and when they are done ask questions just to make sure what you heard is really what they said and how you understand it is really how they want you to.

It is misinformation that causes break-ups and breakdowns in family and social relationships. It is misinformation that turns flourishing businesses into basket cases. It is misinformation that make people do things they live to regret for the rest of their lives.

Communication is very vital. But on a second thought if that child had communicated clearly he would have spared me the monster moment. So that is another thing we must do with people around us. To communicate clearly.

Do not say anything when you don't know anything and do not say something you are unsure of. Because whether we know it or not, words stir emotions and the kind of information we receive influences how we respond and our behavior generally.

Do not be too quick to pass judgement without hearing the full story and carefully examining every detail.