Lessons Children Learn
When I was a very small
child my mother asked
which stuffed animal
I would like to take home.
I looked them over carefully
and decided on one
feeling excited that
I could choose on my own.
I started out having a
champagne taste in early years.
I chose the largest and most
expensive one which brought tears.
I was then told by my mother that
I couldn't have that one,
it cost too much and she
didn't have that much money.
Then I had to choose
a smaller one
that I didn't like and
my day wasn't sunny.
I continued to wish for
the other prettier one.
My mother didn't know the
lesson she had taught me
that day as she didn't handle
the situation very well.
She should have selected a
few of the ones she could afford
and let me choose between them.
I was taught then that I
could never have that
special one that I wanted most.
I was taught I must take the
lesser one and be happy
I had this one and I
should take care of it always.
Even if the one I had was a good one
and best for me I
would still feel haunted.
I had the feeling that I could
never have the one
I really wanted......
One day as a preteen I was
sitting in the car waiting
for my dad to get
a hair cut upstairs
of a vegetable and fruit market.
There were baskets and baskets
of delicious looking apples.
I was very hungry and went
over and got myself one.
The owner was my dad's cousin
and I thought she wouldn't
care if I ate one.
My dad returned while
I was eating it and wanted
to know where I got it.
I told him I got it from the basket.
He became very upset and said
I stole it and I had to pay for it.
I was very humiliated
to have to go tell her I was sorry
that I took the apple while dad paid for it.
She said it was ok, that she would give me
the apple but dad said no, she didn't ask for it,
and you didn't give it to her.
Well, I never wanted that humilation again
so I never took anything from anyone again
no matter how hungary I felt and how
many the other person had.
It was a well learned lesson I'd say.
When we become parents
we don't know all of the answers
and we sometimes make
mistakes along the way.
Mistakes that will mold and
make this child into the adult
they will become.
We just do the best we can,
thinking before we make decisions
or try to train them in any chosen field.
Don't be so over confident that
we think we are always right
because parents can be selfish
sometimes or inconsiderate of the needs
and feelings of their children and fail to teach them.
Lessons we learn as a child most of the time stay
with us all the days of our life.
*I learned from the first experience that I couldn't have everything I wanted, when I couldn't afford it. Some things were just out of reach and to be happy and thankful for what I could have.
*The second experience taught me that I was never to take anything that didn't belong to me. Unless I bought it or it was given to me it was out of bounds. I also learned that if I got caught taking something that I would face humiliation, and still have to pay for it. He also taught me then if the police caught me stealing something I would have to go to jail.
My parents were very strict, and I think that is where parents go wrong today.
Thanks
Norma Duncan aka Mistymaiden
June 25, 2009
Challenge: Anything Goes.
By Mistymaiden
© 2009 Mistymaiden
(All rights reserved)
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