Family Matters

This is the second part of yesterday’s Be a Good Sport!, which includes the last 5 things we need to do as parents to make sure our kids take the positive out of sports rather than the negative.

On the weekend, when all the sport teams are on the field are kicking or passing a ball, it is easy to see that they are not the only ones sweating. From the bench, a group of anxious parents try to give instructions that can hardly be heard on the field. The quieter ones try using the power of their thoughts to push the ball to the left. It is funny to watch. Parents move their bodies as if they can help their kids move the ball straight into the basket or the goal.

Really?

In my Parenting workshops, parents think of their teen as self-absorbed and demanding. They tell themselves stories about how their kids compare to their young selves to strengthen that belief. A recent study, published in the February issue of Psychological Science, describes this belief as a complete misconception. Surprise, surprise! Kids today are no more narcissistic than their parents were during their teen years.

Kids laugh a lot but not everything is funny for them. Watching them can teach us a lot about the complication required to understand humour. The younger the kids, the clumsier they are in telling jokes and many of them do not think jokes are funny at all.

Imagine that knowledge is blood making its way into the heart and the emotional problem blocks it from moving forward and causes a heart attack. Yes, we can go through heart surgery but any doctor will prescribe a good eating plan with exercise and stress elimination, otherwise it will happen again.

When I was 14, I promised myself to have words like Marianne Williamson’s quote above on the walls of my house to keep me inspired. For those of you who know me, my house has such writings on the walls, in every diary, on every photo album and on the bathroom mirror (in lipstick). I am inspired!

It all started 18 years ago, when I wrote the “Garden of Eden” program, which put most of the emphasis emotional intelligence. I started an early childhood centre with kids aged 1½ to 4 and proved that excellence depends on the teaching, not on the kids.

I got this story from a good friend (Thank you, Norm) and thought I would share it here, because it touched my heart and I wanted it to touch yours.

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs.

Let me make myself absolutely clear: I am against the use of labels and medication to “cure” concentration problems and hyperactive behaviour. In 22 years of professional work, I have met plenty of people with these challenges, and there were ALWAYS other ways to make them perform better and feel better. Always!

“What is the thing that makes you get up in the morning? What drives you?” I asked John. He looked surprised. “If you could choose the thing that is the reason you are here in this life, what would that be?” I kept asking. When I asked it, I knew the answer.