A while back I was on the phone with a client and he had mentioned that he had a son who was a doctor, a daughter who was a lawyer, and another daughter who was a teacher. He also said that he is so thankful for the close relationship he still has with each of them. I asked him what his secret was to raising such disciplined children and the only answer he had for me was, "No means no." From that point forward I decided that that was going to be my motto as a parent.
Just yesterday we took Caiden downtown to get some frozen yogurt. Well, I couldn't resist giving Caiden a tiny bite and let him experience his first strawberry/blueberry ice cream treat. I gave him one bite and he seemed confused yet pleasantly surprised, and then he reached for another...and another. After the third bite I said that was all and he wanted more. After a minute or so he realized that I wasn't giving in and for the first time in his tiny little life, he threw a fit, a big one, and truthfully, it was incredibly painful for me and daddy to watch. It would have been so easy and made so much sense just to give him a few more bites to satisfy his want, and get on our way as to not make a scene. But we stood our ground and kept trucking forward through the busy sidewalk toward our car, getting a few 'what's wrong with that kid' glances along the way.
During the painful 2-minute walk to our car, I remembered back to what Mr. Client had said about "No means no" and I was so grateful for those simple words of wisdom he had so unintentionally shared. My prayer is that, as parents, we can follow this motto throughout these many years of raising our children so that they learn and understand boundaries, respect and self-control, something that we all need a little help with!
2 comments:
Awww! Way to hold your ground!!
aaawe, he's going to be a philospher.
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