by: Jack Canfield, A 2nd Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul
One day David was teaching his seven-year-old son how to push the gas-powered lawn mower around the yard. As he was teaching him how to turn the mower around at the end of the lawn, his wife called to him to ask a question. As David turned to answer the question, the son pushed the lawn mower right through the flower bed at the edge of the lawn - leaving a two-foot wide path levelled to the ground!
When David turned back around and saw what had happened, he began to lose control. He had put a lot of time and effort into making those flower beds the envy of the neighborhood.
As he began to raise his voice to his son, his wife walked quickly over to him, put her hand on his shoulder and said, "David, please remember, we're raising children, not flowers!"
It reminds us how important it is as a parent to remember our priorities. Kids and their self-esteem are more important than any physical object they might break or destroy. The window pane shattered by a baseball, a lamp knocked over by a careless child, or a plate dropped in the kitchen are already broken. The flowers are already dead.
Not to add to the destruction by breaking a child's spirit and deadening his sense of liveliness.
My thoughts: The best way to raise positive children in a negative world is to have positive parents who love them unconditionally and serve as excellent role models. All that the kids need is a little help, a little understanding, a little hope and someone who believes in them. What a child does not receive, he can seldom give later.
One day David was teaching his seven-year-old son how to push the gas-powered lawn mower around the yard. As he was teaching him how to turn the mower around at the end of the lawn, his wife called to him to ask a question. As David turned to answer the question, the son pushed the lawn mower right through the flower bed at the edge of the lawn - leaving a two-foot wide path levelled to the ground!
When David turned back around and saw what had happened, he began to lose control. He had put a lot of time and effort into making those flower beds the envy of the neighborhood.
As he began to raise his voice to his son, his wife walked quickly over to him, put her hand on his shoulder and said, "David, please remember, we're raising children, not flowers!"
It reminds us how important it is as a parent to remember our priorities. Kids and their self-esteem are more important than any physical object they might break or destroy. The window pane shattered by a baseball, a lamp knocked over by a careless child, or a plate dropped in the kitchen are already broken. The flowers are already dead.
Not to add to the destruction by breaking a child's spirit and deadening his sense of liveliness.
My thoughts: The best way to raise positive children in a negative world is to have positive parents who love them unconditionally and serve as excellent role models. All that the kids need is a little help, a little understanding, a little hope and someone who believes in them. What a child does not receive, he can seldom give later.
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