Seven-year old Michael was on a college trip to a Wildlife Centre in Central Scotland. He could not fight the array of lollipops and chocolate animals that beckoned to him. He selected one and was about to pay for it with his last few nickels.
His teacher, a kindly soul with not long before retirement, spotted him. “Have you purchased something for your Mummy yet, Michael?”. Here is a fab story all about
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Michael dropped his head in shame. Carefully , the teacher took the candy bar from him and replaced it on the shelf.
Michael still recalls the day he learned a crucial lesson : “The figure was made from inexpensive plastic, but my Mummy could not have appreciated it more had it been made from silver, gold or perhaps platinum.
Often we as fogeys and adults lose our sense of viewpoint, don’t we? What may appear trivial and trivial to us, can mean such a lot to a kid.
not only could this girl travel many miles by cushty transport each day, but at the touch of a button she could discuss with her mummy.
This made me think again of the 2 I’d overheard on the way down.
But if raising assured kids is our objective, why not start early, and help them develop a feeling of shock and wonder. It was an exercise in perception, we were told.
When we learn how to think like our kids, when we ‘get down to their level’, when we master the art of getting within their heads and seeing life from their viewpoint, the job of raising youngsters becomes way easier – saying nothing of more pleasurable and satisfying.
Why do some folks and kids succeed, while others fail? Frank McGinty is an internationally made public writer and teacher.
Posted in Family Life