This past December our family started a new tradition around the nightly dinner table. We spend the usual time discussing our days, but we center the talk around our personal successes. Each member of the family takes a moment to share their most successful part of the day. I am the official recorder because we keep track of them in a journal. I think it will be fun to look back through the journal years from now to see what my then adult children considered a success when they were 13 and 10.
My hope is for the boys’ successes to eventually reflect how they helped others be successful that day. I try my best to model that style each evening when it is my turn to share. Right now the successes mostly focus on getting a good grades, having fun at a sleep over, or getting high score on an Xbox game. Every once in a while, however, I get to hear about how they helped someone out who was in need.
Do I have a success to share tonight?
I think I will share how I helped a student understand how to appropriately deal with someone who makes them angry. I did this through modeling. I walked away from a situation which made me the angriest I have felt in a long time. I’m usually a strong person, but when I am infuriated I tend to cry. I hate for people to see me cry, but today, for the first time ever, I let a student see me cry.
Crying may not be allowed in baseball, but it’s okay in the principal’s office.
March 25, 2015 at 10:20 pm
The reminder to help others succeed is so helpful to me. I keeps a person in a win~win situation. Help someone and receive a blessing