There are many, many lessons our children learn – and most of them do not involve their parents.
We are still coping and reeling from the recent lesson that Sassy learned about stalking. (She is safe, brave, and back to her annoying self.)
I’ve watched painfully as they’ve learned about boyfriends, girl “frenemies”, sibling fighting, about how words hurt, about bad choices, and about how a single event can bring you a grief that you’ve never imagined.
However, they’ve also learned that there are amazing people in the world, and that if you are truly a good hearted person, and do for others, then good things will come back to you tenfold. The girls saw this many times in the last year, and last weekend the Golden Boy was the recipient of a most recent lesson.
I had a meeting with some fellow teachers over the break (Don’t let anyone tell you that teachers don’t work at home. It’s a lie.) to plan a unit that we will be implementing this month. One of the other teachers has a son in Golden Boy’s class, and we thought they could bowl a few games while we did our planning at those tall tables behind the lanes. (Who needs quiet- we’re USED to chaos.)
After the games, the boys went looking to buy some water bottles. GB had a five dollar bill and was searching and searching for change- and no one working at any of the areas seemed willing to give it to him. I happen to glance up as a man (who was bowling with his family) walked across the lanes toward my son and handed him something. I watched as he told him something, and sent him toward the water machine.
“What did that man give you?” I asked Golden Boy when he returned with his water.
“He gave me the $1.50 and told me that when I was older, I was supposed to do something nice for someone else.” And he looked at me with a serious look on his face, and then broke out in a smile.
That man, who I have never met, taught my middle school son an invaluable lesson.
I thank all of you “angels” out there who do this daily. It might not be money, or gifts, but just by your behavior, your demeanor, your politeness and your generosity, you are teaching all of our children lessons that feel good.
Keep up the good work.
(How about a little bloggy love for Anna. She could use a thumbs up over here.)
