Mother Knows Best....Sometimes

We have a large bonfire party each year that is a lot of fun for our friends and for us. The week leading up to the party is a lot of work with not just getting the party necessities all in order but also getting the house and yard looking what is called "grandma clean" in our family. Grandma clean is a level of clean that my grandma Dot would clean. This level of clean requires a lot of scrubbing and total organization. In trying to achieve the level of "grandma clean," we require all hands on deck. So today I asked my son to clean the coffee table. Next thing I know, he's squirting the table with water using his water gun and wiping the table down. I immeddiately asked him what in the world be was doing! He looked at me with a slightly puzzled look and answered, "What you told me to dooooo." At that moment I realized that although his technique was far from what I would call proper, he was getting the job I asked him to do done. Would it be faster if he just wiped the table down the way I would have? Probably. But this was his way and his way was working too.
As a parent and teacher, I sometimes struggle with wanting my sons and students to only do things MY way. This can be discouraging for both me and them! I believe that being a good leader, whether as a parent, teacher, or even as a citizen, requires me to see that leading is about more than me and my ways. It is about guiding, and encouraging others even when I think I have a better way of doing the task at hand. When my way needs to be used, it is about sharing my way in a tone that is not demeaning or critical of others. There are times as a parent and teacher when my way just has to be the way that things are done but I'm going to be more aware of the times when my way does not have to be used....or even suggested.
When my sweet, 7 year old finished cleaning that table with his water gun, he stepped back to look at it and smiled with pride. Seeing that pride made this mother's heart happy.

Philippians 2:3-4 Do