I took an opportunity to Lead by Example.

What kind of lessons are your children learning?

I was at my father’s place yesterday evening. We were having a nice visit when suddenly my 2-year-old daughter picked up a plate of salad that my 6 year old was eating and dumped it all over the floor. I gently told the girls that it was ok and asked them to clean it up as best as they could. AS they tried to please me, they of course proceeded to make an even bigger mess despite their best efforts. At this point the floor was a sticky mess thanks to the salad dressing. I had to laugh and simply said “thank you so much for helping” to my babies and bent over to clean the rest of the salad up.

My father said - "Sugar - you don't have to clean that - one of my assistants/secretaries can come by tomorrow and clean up." I continued cleaning it up and then mopped the floor since the dressing had made everything so sticky.

I then turned to my girls and said..."Girls - whenever you make a mess or a mistake - you must always tell the truth and acknowledge that you made a mess and then YOU must clean up the mess you made. This is called being responsible."

In life, you will find that you will make many mistakes or messes and that is ok – we all make messes sometimes - - just make sure you are always honest about the mistakes and take responsibility for cleaning up the mess - -

I put my girls in the car after they kissed their Papa good night and then I went back in and in private said – “Dad – I love you but PLEASE do not ever teach my children that they don’t have to be responsible for their own actions.”

I know in his heart he meant well by telling me not to clean and mop (what can I say – I am a princess – who has many other talents besides domestic engineering) but when I realized the implication and what my babies were watching – I realized that this was a valuable opportunity to teach a lesson – so mop away I did because children will learn what they watch.

We must all lead by example.

So... did they get it? When I got to the car I said to Mariah - - did you learn anything after the salad spilled? And she said - "yes Mommy - I learned that we have to be responsible and honest and always clean up our messes"... and little Malaya pipes in "Yah mommy - messes"

I am Doctor Sugar and when you have a medical question simply click on my picture and go to my profile to see a variety of blogs and videos on many wellness & self-esteem topics. Have a great day BraveHeart Sisters!

With Love, Wellness and Compassion,
Dr. Sugar

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