OK,
I had another moment with my youngest. This time is different though.
This time it was a teaching moment, and I'm hoping some of you might
give me your opinion. I swear I've looked all over for that "Perfect
Parenting" book....you know, the one that tells you exactly what to say
whenever a teaching moment presents itself....but I haven't found it
yet. So, I'm asking my Facebook family for their thoughts. (I apologize
for the amount of words. I'm working on that)
Here we go...my youngest made a little mistake today. He said "No" to something dad said. Now, it wasn't directly from me, my oldest told him that dad said. However, I did in fact say it. Later I asked my youngest about it and he said he wasn't told "Dad said." It turns out, he wasn't told the first time, but he was the second time when I was on the phone with my oldest. (Man I hope that makes sense) OK, here comes the lesson....well, here comes the lesson I taught.
I told him that he made two mistakes today, but that the second one is the one I wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk about honesty. In my opinion, honesty is way high on the important character traits list. It falls behind faith in God, but it's way up there. Now, I admit that I'm a bit of hypocrite for saying that. I haven't always been completely forthright. I've made mistakes, and I've really badly hoped that nobody would find out. Part of the lesson I shared with my son is this...God has a way of making sure people find out (I told him to trust me on that one, I found out the hard way.) My hope is that I've been honest once my mistakes have been discovered. I think I have been. I hope I've shown my boys that it's important to take responsibility for your actions, no matter how much that might suck for you.
Anyway...I said, "Bud, being honest is one of the hardest things to do sometimes. Especially when you have to admit to doing something wrong, but it's always better to be honest. The crazy thing is, sometimes, the hardest people to be honest with are the people you care about the most. Your friends and your family. You don't want them to be disappointed in you, or upset at you." I said, "But, they are the most important people to be honest with. They are the ones whose trust will matter the most. You don't want to lose that son. Once you do, it's really difficult to get it back." I then said, "You may hurt their feelings, or make them upset by being honest, but they will still trust you. It may be really hard to admit that you made a mistake. I know that because I've been there kid, but your life will be so much better if you're honest. Trust me. Please."
OK. I fully realize that I shared my feelings on the issue. I'm not sure they are right though. So, Facebook family, did I screw up my teaching moment? Please be honest and don't worry about hurting my feelings.....
Here we go...my youngest made a little mistake today. He said "No" to something dad said. Now, it wasn't directly from me, my oldest told him that dad said. However, I did in fact say it. Later I asked my youngest about it and he said he wasn't told "Dad said." It turns out, he wasn't told the first time, but he was the second time when I was on the phone with my oldest. (Man I hope that makes sense) OK, here comes the lesson....well, here comes the lesson I taught.
I told him that he made two mistakes today, but that the second one is the one I wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk about honesty. In my opinion, honesty is way high on the important character traits list. It falls behind faith in God, but it's way up there. Now, I admit that I'm a bit of hypocrite for saying that. I haven't always been completely forthright. I've made mistakes, and I've really badly hoped that nobody would find out. Part of the lesson I shared with my son is this...God has a way of making sure people find out (I told him to trust me on that one, I found out the hard way.) My hope is that I've been honest once my mistakes have been discovered. I think I have been. I hope I've shown my boys that it's important to take responsibility for your actions, no matter how much that might suck for you.
Anyway...I said, "Bud, being honest is one of the hardest things to do sometimes. Especially when you have to admit to doing something wrong, but it's always better to be honest. The crazy thing is, sometimes, the hardest people to be honest with are the people you care about the most. Your friends and your family. You don't want them to be disappointed in you, or upset at you." I said, "But, they are the most important people to be honest with. They are the ones whose trust will matter the most. You don't want to lose that son. Once you do, it's really difficult to get it back." I then said, "You may hurt their feelings, or make them upset by being honest, but they will still trust you. It may be really hard to admit that you made a mistake. I know that because I've been there kid, but your life will be so much better if you're honest. Trust me. Please."
OK. I fully realize that I shared my feelings on the issue. I'm not sure they are right though. So, Facebook family, did I screw up my teaching moment? Please be honest and don't worry about hurting my feelings.....
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