Yesterday I got a great parenting lesson. Unfortunately, this lesson was learned by seeing an awful scene of parenting. It made me think about how our actions and our behaviors are examples for our children, students, employees, followers, whoever is paying attention. Being Bout a Different Life means people will pay attention, and they will pay attention to your actions more than your words.
I got to see an angry parent in action, yelling, cursing, and even threatening a coach about her child's tryout to a sport at the school where I work. And, Yes, this women's child was with her, she also had her younger son with her. Why waste an opportunity to teach just one of your children how to handle a situation you are upset with when you can teach both of them? Yeah you're right, this is a situation I should not be sarcastic about.
My heart hurts for this girl and boy. To think about how this one night, this one event will negatively affect their lives. Thinking about what this women taught her children last night. How her children will now handle a problem.
Scream a lot, if that doesn't work-Start inserting the most obscene expletives you can think of, still not a result you're happy with-Threaten to catch the person on the streets, then to top it off walk away and use the same expletives to explain to your daughter, "Your gonna be on this f#@&ing team, your my f$#@ing daughter, and you'll be on this f---ing team."
Yup, that's the formula, if you hope to scar your children for life, there it is laid out for you. Please remember that you're being watched and observed. Your actions set the expectations for the right way to respond in situations. I don't by any means have this perfected, I sometimes hear my older daughter telling her younger sister how to do something, and I hear myself, and I say to myself, "I really need to watch how I explain things to her."
People are picking up on your cues on how to perform in certain situations. If you're the boss and you show up late and leave early, guess what-your employees will do the same. If you're the teacher and you aren't organized in class, your students won't be either. If you're a parent and you drop the F-Bomb and threaten to "catch someone on the streets" don't get up set when the principal calls home or the police show up with your children, it's not their fault, it's yours.
On this day before Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for parents who didn't curse at me, or anyone else. Thankful for parents who began the process of teaching me "Bout a Different Life" and how to look for the Narrow Gate.
Who is it that has most influenced your life through their actions?
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