Teach the Children Well

Telling your children what they need to know for a successful and happy life means nothing if your actions don’t back it up. The whole idea of “do what I say, not what I do” is insane. Children are more apt to follow your lead then they are to follow you advice.

This has been on my heart for the last 24 hours because of an incident my family experience. We were at the park playing and there was new equipment being installed. The workers told us we could play on the old equipment as long as we stayed away from the area they were working.

The kids (and parents) were having a great time. We all made a point to give a wide berth to the work area. Later, the workers wrapped the new equipment with caution tape and packed up their tools. We continued to go around the area – there was still plenty for the children to do.

Some other mothers walked up with their children and we shared what the workers had told us. They were disappointed – so much so that they just let their children walk up under the tape and play on the equipment any way.

My middle child came over and asked me if they didn’t see the caution tape. I assured him that they did. My oldest son went over to explain to the ladies that there was tape up and it wasn’t a good idea to be up there (he has a heart of compassion and was worried about the little children). I was just thankful we were almost ready to go.

Our group gathered for lunch, and just as we were finishing, another family showed up. I shared the information with them as well, and they immediately told the children to stay away from that area.

Later that night I was talking to one of the employees of the department and she said the equipment wasn’t safe yet. There was an actually reason for that caution tape to be up – it wasn’t just to torture those who wanted to go play.

All night I wondered how often those mothers thought the rules didn’t apply to them. I thought about the children and how they would soon understand that what they wanted was more important than what was right.

At the same time, I had a warm feeling about my children’s own future. The incident made me glad that we are following the rules no matter what others around us might be doing. Our children are learning to do what is right, and that makes us the ultimate winners.