The Wednesday Pop - Vol. 6 . . . a thank you I wouldn't have thought I'd send!

So, I've been devoting Wednesdays to my Dad, the cool Don Murphy.  I decided it was a good idea, as I have lots to tell and learn from him about parenting.

He might be surprised by this one.  You might be, too.  Today, I have a specific thank you.

Back in the long ago late seventies and early eighties, people didn't give a lot of thought to seat belts.  Some cars didn't even have them - weird, huh?  Well, I think most cars did, but they were stuffed way down under the seat and nobody could ever find them.  And the belts didn't come from behind, over your shoulder.  They came from the depths and ickiness of the between the seat area.  Once you located the belt for your seat, it was most definitely either sized for Flat Stanley or the fat lady at the circus. They didn't work with the spring back system of today - once you found one, it might prove to be ten feet of royal blue silky belt.  It was a real pain.  Anybody remember that?

Oh, what we went through, back in the day.

But, that's not really what this post is about.  That's not the thank you.  My appreciation goes to my Dad for being a bit on the 'weird' side and forcing us to wear seat belts way before everybody else did.  It was a pain; it really was.  Though we knew he forced the issue because he loved us so very much, we were often frustrated by that extra ten seconds of effort needed to be safe.  Dad stayed the course.  I'm thankful.  He had us put on the seat belts, no matter what car we were in.  He had our friends put on seat belts when they rode with us.

The part that amazes me now - now that I'm a parent - is how hard that must have been.  I can see now that listening to us whine about the pesky seat belts must have been a pain.  It would have been so much easier to do what most everyone else was doing and just forget about the safety issue that was becoming clearer and clearer.  It would have been easier - much easier.

But that's not my Dad.  That's not how he does it, and I'm thankful.  Writing this has all sorts of things running through my brain about parenting today.  I'm wondering about the things I need to be brave about;  the yays and nays I need to concentrate on, even when it's really, really hard.

I have a great example, and I can remember it every time I put on my seat belt.  Each time I reach over and do what I have to do, I can draw on the strength I learned from my Dad and hope for the courage to be so bold myself.

Thanks, Dad.

List 17 - a few things that I think would be different if kids were in charge!

Earlier this week, I heard a good interview on NPR (I'm always hearing good interviews on NPR) about A Wrinkle in Time.  The host was questioning a professor about the book, its meanings and what the book was about.  At one point the professor got stuck on different themes in the book.  He chuckled about how hard it can be to break down a story's meaning; and then he said, "I've always said that if you want to write a book, but it's too hard for adults to understand, you should write a children's book."

Interesting.  I did not hear the entire interview, but I kept that comment with me, long after turning off the radio.  I can easily accept the prof's statement.  I agree that sometimes we allow so many things to come into our brains, that we might just be too overwhelmed to notice some of the simple things that slap us in the face day after day after day.

And that got me thinking . . . wondering . . . are there obvious truths that kids are able to recognize that we miss?  Are kids actually smarter than us?  (Children of my own - if you are reading this, it does not apply to anything about rule-making as pertains to your current life.)

Sometimes they are.  Sometimes children pick up on things that our cluttered minds are too busy to see ... or feel.

I decided today's list should be a few things that might be different if kids were in charge; if kids had helped us more from the beginning:

1. We would take breaks more - if we found ourselves in the middle of a hard, tiring task, we would know that it's good to break it up with something fun, relaxing or restful.
2. Every now and then we'd eat ice cream for dinner.  Period.
3. When we got the urge to laugh uncontrollably, we would; even if that meant Coca Cola coming out of our noses or having to get up and grab our bellies.
4. We would learn more about what we wanted to know.  If something interested us, we would keep questioning, delving and searching until we found the answers that satisfied our curiosity.  
5. 'I' and 'e' would be in the same order in every word.  Letters would have one sound and one sound only.  There would not be silent letters, and 'y' would either be a vowel or not.  
6. We wouldn't determine whether or not we were going to do something depending upon how recently we had showered.
7. Sprinklers would frequently be used to enhance moods, causing laughter and better days.
8. We would do a lot of things 'just for the fun of it.'
9. We wouldn't work so hard on keeping things quiet, except when it was necessary.  Eating lunch in the cafeteria?  We'd be talking to our friends.  
10. We would trust our instincts more.
11. We would allow ourselves and others a bit more daydreaming time.  Every second wouldn't 'count' and we wouldn't be trying to fill it, no matter what.  We would get the value in doing nothing, especially to re-coup when we are worn out.
12. We wouldn't be so suspicious about everything and everyone.  We would have more trust.
13. We would know ourselves better.
14. In school and in church and whenever we were learning, we'd act out more and use our hands, because we'd remember that we have to do that to really learn.
15. We'd smile when we feel like it and not when we don't.  It wouldn't mean anything big, but we wouldn't be worried all of the time about how the world is judging us, each and every second.  

What do you think we might do differently if we took more cues from young people?  I wish you would add them in the comment section, so folks could see!