I was talking to my daughter Olivia on the phone the other
day and in the course of our conversation she said that Reuben had tasted his
first funnel cake over the weekend. She laughed as she told me about handing
him a bite of what we all know is a rather plain-looking treat. This was
especially true since it wasn’t completely smothered in powdered sugar.
Reuben looked at it and when Olivia prompted him to do so,
he took a bite. She could tell by the look on his face that his expectations
were low, but it took only a second or two for his expression to change and for
him to begin saying, “Yum, Mommy, yuuuummmm.”
Reuben’s initiation into the world of funnel cakes came with
a very important lesson—one every child needs to learn: everything is not as it
seems. Reuben’s initial expression told Olivia he was expecting the funnel cake
to taste like bread or a pretzel because that’s what it looked like. It didn’t
look like anything sweet he’d ever had before.
As parents we need to be teaching our children the same
lesson—that everything is not as it seems.
Being told ‘no’ may seem like a bad thing at the time even
though it really is for their own good.
Peers who aren’t dressed in the latest and greatest may not
seem like the people they want to be friends with, but they are usually kinder,
nicer, and more loyal than kids who are dressed in the latest and greatest.
Just because it seems okay to go to a party when no parents
are going to be home doesn’t mean it is.
It may not seem to
your child like you love them when you discipline them and don’t give them
everything they want, but later on they’ll realize just what an expression of
love these things are.
Kids are kids—which means they have a kid’s perception of
things. They can’t help it and they shouldn’t have to. That’s what you’re there
for—to help them see things for what they really are by being a wise and loving
parent who provides safe boundaries in which they can discover the world through
hands-on experience; coming out of it with powdered sugar on their face.
Love,
Momma D
Copyright 2015 Darla Noble. No part of this can be used or copied without permission of the author.
