Because I Said So
OneInspiredDude posted this touching conversation that he had with his young son (not sure how old he is):
“Anthony, is it good to always listen to adults?”
“Yes.” he responds, unsure.
“No, buddy! Just because someone is an adult and older than you doesn’t mean they know what they are talking about.”
“Is it good to listen to the adults around you most of the time?”
“Yes?”
“Yes, because we’re doing our best to guide you well. We make mistakes, too, though. So, how do you know when to really listen?”
“I don’t know.”
“Buddy, you’ve got to listen to your own heart. You know the difference.”
Isn’t that beautiful? Its so wonderful to hear a parent nurturing those qualities in his child. I mean, when was the last time that any of us had this kind of conversation with the children we love? Have we ever?
As he wrote in his original post: “Anthony knows wisdom when he hears it, as all kids do.”
But what we forget is that the reason kids recognize wisdom when they hear it is because they are already BORN with this wisdom.
What’s sad is that we, the adults, or society as a whole, are the ones making these children second-guess their own innate wisdom, intuition and sense of Self.
I mean, the only reason a small boy would answer a hesitant ‘Yes’ to the question ‘Should you always listen to adults” is because at one point or another the child encountered a situation in his life where he asked ‘Why should I? and an adult told him something along the lines of ‘Because I am the adult and I say so’. The term “Adult” is always used as a form of authority: “If you need help, tell an adult.” “If an adult tells you to do something, you need to listen.”
So although it is a wonderful thing to explain to your child that just because someone is an adult doesnt mean they know what they’re talking about… the truth is your child already knew that. It’s the reason why they didn’t listen to you in the first place!
What Im trying to say is that maybe we should try focusing less on what it is that we should be teaching THEM and more on what it is that they are trying to teach US.
Hope that made even a little sense.
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