Teach Your Children Well

Today I was pretty darn proud of my kids.

Daughter had a half day of school, so we packed her a light lunch and I promised that she could have one of the two pieces of leftover pizza after she got home.

Son had no school today so after an early doctor appointment he was on his own while I did some work. He was happily occupied with his GameCube. I thought.

Around 11:30 I called downstairs to tell him to be sure to save his sister a piece of pizza when he eats lunch. Too late. He had already eaten both of them. I was a bit peeved because I knew how disappointed she would be, but it wasn't really his fault since I hadn't told him in time.

So when I went to pick her up, I told him that I might be late because I might take her out for some lunch to make up for not getting pizza. He told me that he was getting extra money on his game, and that when she got home, he'd let her play and she could use the money to buy something on the game.

He's pretty possessive of his games, so this was a very generous thing.

She decided she wanted a taco from taco bell. It's probably tied with pizza as her favorite food, so that pretty much killed any whining on her part before it began.

While we ate, I told her what her brother had said. She recognized it as the generous gesture that it was, and decided, on her own, to reciprocate. Taco Bell has a special version of Mountain Dew that you can't get anywhere else. It's a favorite of almost all of my family, so she decided to refill the cup before we left so she could bring some home for him.

Since the kids were very young, I have always stressed putting themselves into other people's shoes. I've quizzed them to see how they might feel if something happened to them... both to help them become more empathetic, and also to help them understand why other people might behave in inappropriate ways.

It's an awesome feeling to see them do it on their own. They're growing up. And pretty darn well, I might add.