The childhood years are so dear. Children are so trusting, so fearless, so honest, so open...they are so teachable and impressionable...so happy, so free...so full of life and energy.
As a mother of 3, in my 30s, I see how people's 'issues' can be traced back to their childhood years. Many internal struggles, hangups, dysfunction, and insecurities experienced by adults come from childhood experiences. Many children never learn how to process failure, make good decisions, build healthy friendships, or cope with rejection and as a result, carry these problems into adulthood. Often times, a disappointing experience, if handled properly would have been a teachable moment.
I'll give you an example.
In February, my eldest son celebrated his 8th birthday. We planned a pool party, per his request. When he went to distribute the party invitations at school, he was pressured to change his party plans by an invitee who preferred laser tag. He came home insisting that we change plans. After my attempts to reason with him only seemed to upset him more, I was going to let him give in to peer pressure. After all, I didn't want him to have a sad birthday. Then, with the help of another mom, I came to my senses and saw this as an ideal teachable moment. What a great way to teach him to not let the opinions of others mean so much that he abandons his own desires (some people call this people pleasing). Those types of people (who care only about themselves) really aren't your friends. In fact, the best thing to do with someone who doesn't want to celebrate your birthday doing what you want to do is to leave them out. My son's birthday party was a blast, didn't involve laser tag and didn't include the party pooper.
I'm learning if I miss a teachable moment with my kids, it won't just impact them today, but it may affect their adulthood, their relationships, and potentially their offspring also.
As a working mom, it's very easy to find myself running on fumes by the time I arrive at home. I barely have enough energy to handle the basics and am tempted to sit the kids in front of the TV or send them to bed early while I do a few loads of laundry, clean up, and handle other household tasks. When I allow the loads of 'to-dos' to drain me, exhaust me, and distract me, ultimately I hurt my children. It's my privilege to be their life coach - to teach them life lessons - and no task is more important than this.
It's important that we as moms preserve our time and energy so we don't miss the teachable moments. After all, we all want to raise healthy, reasonable, well-adjusted members of society. If only we all had a Personal Attaché. If you are in the Reston, VA area, contact us to schedule your free consultation:Attaché Services, LLC
11951 Freedom DriveSuite 1300Reston, VA 20190703-251-4526info@attacheservices.com