There is a blog post that I read this past summer. I have been meaning to write a response to it for a while, but never really got around to it. Yet, I still think about it every now and then, so obviously, it had a big impact on me.
The synopsis of the post was that the mom writing it vowed to never tell her children to hurry up. NEVER. the post is from
Hands Free Mama. She saw how much she needed to let her children set the pace, how much it hurt them to be hurried along. When I first read this, I was all like YES! I need to be more like this! I need to let my children explore more. Take time to listen to them and see what they see. Of course, it was summer vacation at the time, and it seemed like a good idea. No. It was a good idea. It IS a good idea. I don't want to bash this mama, I do make an effort to slow down and let my children explore in their own way. I let them splash in puddles and look at bugs. I marvel over every rock they find in the yard. I build sand castles and snowmen. I pick flowers and let them wash their own hands. But here is the deal. I don't do this ALL THE TIME. I can't. And honestly, I don't think that I should.
If I NEVER told my children to hurry up, it would be teaching them really bad manners. As much as I love my children, they are not the center of the the universe. They need to understand that other people, and other peoples' time, is important too. If my child were late for school every day (which she would be, if I never told her to hurry up) we would inconvenience an entire class. There would be less time for her teacher to teach. It would be rude to be late to play dates. If we never hurried to make an appointment on time, our pediatrician would probably refuse to see us. We would miss flights, movies, reservations. In fact, if I never told my children to hurry up, then, quite likely, we would miss out on more than we would actually get to enjoy. Sure, it might be fun to run up and down the driveway, poke a stick in a hole, re-arrange the ponies or cars for the millionth time, but what about vacations? Family dinners? Plays? Train rides?
While living in the now has its place, and I definitely can always use to slow down and let my children live life at their own pace, I believe that I would be a bad mom if I did not hurry them along, at least some of the time.
Also, chances are, my kids would always have wet pants, judging by the number of times I tell them to "hurry to the potty" every single day!
