The hidden message you send
During the holidays I had the pleasure of venturing out into the mad public rush in
search of an unplanned gift for a family we would be visiting on a spur decision.Yes, I had already completed my shopping and wrapping for the season because
I like to buy gifts during the month of November before the rush is on and I dislike
waiting to the last minute and then having to poorly wrap lots of gifts all at once.
Not knowing this family I opted for the safety of a nice set of bed linens.
While in the linen department I observed a woman and her daughter of about 15
shopping. The mother selected a set of packaged sheets from the shelves and
deciding that the linens were not right for her needs she immediately dropped
them to the floor with a resounding thud.
I didn’t think much of this until I noticed that she had no intention of picking them
up and had dropped another set to the floor. This went on for 10 minutes as the
mother examined linens and dropped each set she handled to the floor. After a
few more minutes both turned and left the heap of packages there on the floor.
They purchased nothing.
The fact that the mother was too lazy to place the linen packages back on the
shelf where she got them from bothered me far less than the message she was
sending to her daughter.
That it was ok to trash the store shelves and do as you please without recourse.
Of course this is an extreme example, but how often do we as parents send our
children the wrong message without thinking?
We berate others, act foolishly and display some of the most appalling behavior
right in front of them and then wonder where they get their poor behavioral actions
from. Children take their learning examples from parents, other adults and peers.
Exasperated parents then claim that someone or something else has corrupted
their precious children never turning the behavioral microscope on themselves.
So next time you are compelled to act like that, if you can recognize the fact, try
to be a little more cautious in the message you are sending to your child or other
young people that may be watching. They may turn out just like you!