I used to ask my kids this question from time to time. It seems they could look you square in the face with, supposedly, both eyes on you and listen to your EVERY word and then turn around and DO exactly what you just told them NOT to do! I know it sounds crazy but if you’ve had children you know what I’m talking about.
That being the way it was and probably remains pretty much the way today with children I devised a “test” for my kids and it went something like this.
Whenever they were getting to a point where I thought they were no longer paying attention to me or my wife and I could tell that it was because they were not listening to (or following) our instructions I would tell them: “Let’s go outside and I’ll let you walk through the yard and choose ANY rock you like. Now let’s take that rock inside and we’ll have a test!” It was important to let THEM pick the rock otherwise they would blame you for picking a really SMART rock.
After getting the rock, we would go back inside and I would have my child sit on one end of the sofa and I would place the rock on the other end of the sofa. My instructions were then simple: Who was going to prove themselves smarter? My child or the rock!
After I had gotten them situated on the sofa and explained that the test would involve a series of “requests” and then we could find out who was going to be the smarter by following the instructions given.
I would look at the rock and very pointedly exclaim: “Don’t move!” And of course the rock would sit there completely motionless. My child would get very excited and say: “Dad, of course, the rock is not going to move!” My reply would be: “You’re right! It’s not going to move because I told it not to move.” Now I’d look at my child and once again very pointedly exclaim: “Don’t move!” Almost immediately my child would become very active in replying: “There’s no fun just sitting on the couch.” And at times would even get up and walk over to me to explain why they thought this was not a very good test. I’d stop them and inquire: “Are you going to let the rock be smarter than you? It still hasn’t moved since I told it not to and here you are walking all over the room!”
I would have my child go back to the sofa so we could do one more test. I’d get very serious and look at the rock: “Your mother and I are trying to talk so I want you to be quiet and not say a word!” I’d even put my hand to my ear as if I were trying to hear the rock speak. My child would get very excited again and exclaim: “But, Dad, the rock is not going to say anything because it can’t talk!” And I would reply: “No, the rock is not going to say anything because I told it not to speak.” Then I would look at my child and ask: “When I tell you to be quiet what usually happens?” My child’s head would slowly drop as they replied: “I usually keep talking.” So one again I inquired: “Who’s smarter you or the rock?” My child would get the point and tell me: “I want to be smarter than a rock!”
Now this may sound like a very silly, childish approach in trying to convey to my child the need to pay attention and follow the instructions they had been given. But, it’s a lesson that we could all give better attention to. At times we all find ourselves in situations that truly require our ability to follow instructions. It may even be a “life or death” circumstance that we have to face. Let us start practicing a little more patience and a lot more submission to those who are in a position of oversight and let’s every day prove that WE are smarter than a rock!
QUOTE TO CONSIDER
THOUGHTFUL GEM
"If CON is the opposite of PRO ---
is CONGRESS the opposite of PROGRESS?"
No comments:
Post a Comment