Monday, May 3, 2010

WHAT SORT OF FRUIT ARE YOU PRODUCING IN YOUR CHILDREN …


“Mom!”

Her scream tore through the air, shrill and angry, shattering the din of traffic noise.

“Mom,” she screamed again, even angrier and louder. “My bike fell down. Come pick it up!”

Her mother’s plaintive voice called out, “Coming Princess, coming.”

“Hurry,” she said, still screaming, still angry and still loud. “I wanna go riding some more!”

“I’m coming honey,” her mother said, as she hurried to pick up her daughter’s bike.

“Why does it always take you so long,” her daughter asked rhetorically, the disgust dripping from her face like so much soured ice cream.

“Sorry Princess,” her mother said tiredly, “I was in the middle of something.”

“You’re always in the middle of something,” the angry little princess moaned, and rode off.

“Sorry Princess,” her mother quietly said again, more to herself than to anyone else, and headed back into the house.

I wondered what happened between the day her daughter was born and years later that turned her little girl into such a demanding demoness of darkness.

And I wondered if the mother had ever read the poem by Dorothy Law:

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn…
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight…
If a child lives with fear, he learns to be apprehensive…
If a child lives with pity, he learns to feel sorry for himself…
If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy…
If a child lives with jealousy, he learns to feel guilt…
But…
If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient…
If a child lives with encouragement, he learns to be confident…
If a child lives with praise, he learns to be appreciative…
If a child lives with acceptance, he learns to love…
If a child lives with honesty, he learns what truth is…
If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice…
If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith in himself and those about him…
If a child lives with friendliness, he learns the world is a nice place in which to live.
With what is your child living?

2 comments:

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  2. I'd venture that that little child had spent some time living with a father who had no respect for her mother, and she picked up his habits. Unfortunately, only the mother can change the situation.

    As for me, I lived with tolerance, and I did learn patience. I lived with encouragement, and I am *very* confident. I lived with praise, and I learned, again, confidence, and also appreciation. I lived with acceptance, and I have learned to love. I lived with honesty, and I understand truth. I lived with fairness (the real kind, not the child's understanding of how life "should" be to be fair), and I learned justice. I lived with security, and I have faith in myself and those around me. And I lived with friendliness, and I love my life and the days that fill it.

    So my only question is.... who is this Dorothy Law??

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