I really liked this post by Amber Stippy on the Radical Unschooling Facebook group. It was posted on October 18th. I wrote to her to ask if I could share it because it was such a great example of modeling and kindness!! It's a perfect example of why how we treat our kids and others is so important. Read on...feel the karma!
"Two weeks ago, I had to cancel a lunch date with my daughter. We're buying a house and the bank asked for a document. Then they asked for another and another. It took over an hour of searching, scanning, emailing, and feedback to get everything done. During this time my daughter slid me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She didn't say anything, didn't get any recognition, she just quietly put it on the desk and left. Later I come down and apologized for missing lunch and thanked her for the sandwich. Her reply was "I know what it's like to be very hungry and not be able to stop".
How does she know that? Because at 2, she was coloring so intensely that she didn't stop and I brought her cheerios. At 5 she was studying leaves and couldn't take a break and I brought her apples. Now at 8, she's so into Penguin Club that she doesn't take a break and I bring her that same peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
It doesn't matter if it's coloring, being outside, play video games or getting documents for a mortgage. It is all equally as important from the perspective the activity is being done from.
Has she learned mindfulness with me bringing her food? I'd say so. She was very mindful of my needs at the time.
When I went into the kitchen, the peanut butter, jelly, and bread were all left out and open. She was in such a hurry to take care of me, everything else was second on her mind. According to the statement above, I should make her mindful of the food that was about to get stale. I didn't. I cleaned it up. Why? Because one day, I'll leave the bread out and her reaction will be "oh no, the bread is about the get stale, let me take care of that". And she will. Isn't kindness the best lesson?" - Amber Stippy
