false

The other day I found myself telling Fisher that he needs to learn to take no for an answer. He'd been a record on repeat--asked me a couple dozen times to take him to the woods to search for Bigfoot. The moment my statement spilled from my mouth I questioned the impact and validity of my words. I felt bad. For my sanity it would be great if he only had to be told once and would then drop what his heart was after. But I don't want him to concede to the no's of the world because that means giving up. Think how different our lives would be if everyone adhered to their mother's advice and accepted the rejections of all the doors that closed in their faces. If they didn't keep trying to find a way in, a way around. I want him to be hungry for his dreams, to be a fighter, so will my statement to him play out in his future? Will he remember my words and miss out on an opportunity? That's the difficult thing about parenting--to walk the line of making your own time easier by drawing on easy definitive answers when it comes to dealing with them directly, all the while wanting them to question and challenge the world at large. I don't believe my children should do as I say and not as I do. I don't think anyone wants to parent like that, but wanting and doing are separate things and sometimes it is easier. I strive to act in the manner that I teach. My kids watch me exercise, read books, dance, smile at strangers, or even just sit quietly in the grass and gaze up at the sky. It is true that we are better for others when we make ourselves better so hopefully my own challenging of the world will counteract the words I planted. And maybe they already have because that boy still won't back down!