Actions speak louder than words.
~ Mark Twain
Since kids don’t listen a lot of the time anyway, don’t worry too much about what you say. But, worry a lot about what you do.
I’ll always remember an interaction I had with our son Keith many years ago. He is one of the twins and was an angel as a child. Therefore, he had the bedroom at the end of the hall because we didn’t have to worry about him or what he was doing when his door was shut.
At the time his brother Jeffrey was driving us nuts. So his bedroom was right there in plain view at all times, and occasionally I took the door off the hinges to be sure he would get up and go to school on time.
One day Keith came to me and said, “I don’t get 20 percent of your time.”
“What do you mean?” I responded.
Keith said, “You have five children, and we should each get 20 percent.”
“Well,” I said, “your brother is driving us crazy, so he gets 40 percent.”
I learned from this interaction with my son that the “angels” in your life need to know you care for and love them too. They think they are at the end of the hall because you don’t love them as much, while the “devils” know you love them because they get most of your attention.
Don’t use the excuse “the devil made me do it!” Pay close attention to how your actions are perceived by your kids.
Peace,
~ Bernie
