Parenting is hard. There’s no way around it. For those of who are cursed fortunate enough to be parents, we are all too aware that over the course
of our parenting life, major decisions will have to be made, ones that will shape our
beloved children’s future in countless ways. It never seems to end. Where do you send them for school? When do you cave and get them a phone? (After all, everyone else in pre-school has one.) Do you really sign them up for a soccer team that holds more practices than the teams in the World Cup? These are major, life-altering decisions that keep us parents up at night.
But parenting is not made up of only major decisions. Far
from it. Each day brings countless tiny decisions,
insignificant on the surface but if handled incorrectly, ones with the
potential to do lasting damage. As a parent, the pressure is always on—don’t
screw it up!
But one of those seemingly tiny decisions with potentially
life-altering consequences is seldom discussed by the Dr. Phil’s of the world, and you don’t see on self-help parenting websites. We're out there, all alone, which is a shame because it is a big one. Very big. Lives and futures are at stake, and we have to get it right. What is
it, you may ask? Simple.
What do you
do when your child drops a piece of food on the ground?
See? This is big. This is iceberg-that-sunk-the-Titanic BIG.
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| Titanic-level danger looms... |
If you think I am overstating the importance, think again. I have seen vacations, family gatherings, and pleasant
days destroyed in mere seconds by a parent making the
wrong decision to this problem. I can see it now. Birds are singing, the sun is shining, and kids are laughing. But wait, what's that? Junior dropped his sucker.
Uh-oh.
