I remember this one time where I asked a parent this question, "What is your mission as a parent?" I thought that the moment that a mother and father became parents they came up with an end goal for their children.. More often than not, most parents seem to just live day to day as it pertains to raising their children.
One family that I have spent a number of years working with do the exact opposite. In their daily routines, they not only communicate what the expectations of their children are, but model it in their daily interactions with their own family. They have more than six children and have modeled them in the old-fashioned way of child-rearing, "Responsibility, respect, and integrity is shared by all of you." I like how they raise their kids because it was how I was raised.
On the day of the Parent-Teacher Conference, the mother of these wonderful children came in to talk to the teachers of her children. I recall that she stated that two of the teachers had complimented the actions of two of her children but it was the heroic action of one of the children that really stood out to not just me, but the entire school.
During the time of the school announcements, there was one student in the third grade class that volunteered to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. The student that volunteered has Aspergers Syndrome and because of his disability, has problems communicating socially with his peers. The teacher had asked the other students in the class if any of them would volunteer to help the student with Aspergers Syndrome and nobody wanted to volunteer, except for the son of my client. He quickly shot up his hand and said, "I'll go up there with him!"
Both students marched up to the office and waited for the part of the announcements to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. When it was time for the student with Aspergers Syndrome to lead the pledge, he froze. It wasn't as if he didn't know the pledge.. he didn't know at that moment in time what he needed to do. The staff at the school repeated the cue for him to say the pledge. Still... no answer. He glanced over to my client's son and my client's son nodded his head. He walked over to him, held his hand, popped into the viewing screen of the camera where the entire school was watching and said...
"Good morning school! My name is Mike and this is my friend John. Today we are going to lead the Pledge of Allegiance..... I pledge allegiance to the flag...."
When my client was telling me this story, it was a pivotal time in my life when many of the casual conversations I hear from parents are the trivialities of school. Yes, I agree that education is vital to the upbringing of one's children, but equally as important as integrity, leadership, and courage. What this child did for me, his family, and his school is that it is so easy to mock someone because you get to hide, it is so much more meaningful to stand by someone and show your strength of character by challenging what may not be popular.
I am so proud to know this child - and hope that these actions of our little heroes are never overlooked.
One family that I have spent a number of years working with do the exact opposite. In their daily routines, they not only communicate what the expectations of their children are, but model it in their daily interactions with their own family. They have more than six children and have modeled them in the old-fashioned way of child-rearing, "Responsibility, respect, and integrity is shared by all of you." I like how they raise their kids because it was how I was raised.
On the day of the Parent-Teacher Conference, the mother of these wonderful children came in to talk to the teachers of her children. I recall that she stated that two of the teachers had complimented the actions of two of her children but it was the heroic action of one of the children that really stood out to not just me, but the entire school.
During the time of the school announcements, there was one student in the third grade class that volunteered to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. The student that volunteered has Aspergers Syndrome and because of his disability, has problems communicating socially with his peers. The teacher had asked the other students in the class if any of them would volunteer to help the student with Aspergers Syndrome and nobody wanted to volunteer, except for the son of my client. He quickly shot up his hand and said, "I'll go up there with him!"
Both students marched up to the office and waited for the part of the announcements to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. When it was time for the student with Aspergers Syndrome to lead the pledge, he froze. It wasn't as if he didn't know the pledge.. he didn't know at that moment in time what he needed to do. The staff at the school repeated the cue for him to say the pledge. Still... no answer. He glanced over to my client's son and my client's son nodded his head. He walked over to him, held his hand, popped into the viewing screen of the camera where the entire school was watching and said...
"Good morning school! My name is Mike and this is my friend John. Today we are going to lead the Pledge of Allegiance..... I pledge allegiance to the flag...."
When my client was telling me this story, it was a pivotal time in my life when many of the casual conversations I hear from parents are the trivialities of school. Yes, I agree that education is vital to the upbringing of one's children, but equally as important as integrity, leadership, and courage. What this child did for me, his family, and his school is that it is so easy to mock someone because you get to hide, it is so much more meaningful to stand by someone and show your strength of character by challenging what may not be popular.
I am so proud to know this child - and hope that these actions of our little heroes are never overlooked.
