The Art Of Discipline: Raising A Parent
You were born with a purpose.
In fact, you were born with many purposes, and you had already begun to fulfil some of them before you were born. While you were little more than a concept, snuggled deep inside the womb…
You were already changing the world!
You will create many changes throughout your existence; like ripples spreading on water…
I am a child now, and we children have a big responsibility, because our parents need us, and we need them. We need their patience, wisdom and love, and they need us to teach them those things!
Because, you see, they are really children too; they just got bigger! We are here to help them grow up.
Of course, it’s not only parents who need our guidance; we have a vital place in the world, we have an important job to do, and believe me, when I say: it’s not gonna be easy!
I am six years old, so I already have a lifetime of experience in disciplining my own parents, I will share with you some of the lessons we have covered on our journey so far…
Lesson One: Unconditional Love
To love another human more than yourself is both humbling and lifting. It teaches selflessness. As children we are born selfish, our perspective is limited to our own needs, and yet we lack the ability to fulfil them. Teaching our parents how to put our needs before their own, is not only essential to our survival but as we grow we will be able to watch them practice and improve and it will help us learn to do the same.
Lesson Two: Patience
There is no better test of patience than an impatient person, and we children are notoriously impatient! If we want something, we want it now, because now is the only time that exists, any point in the future, whether it’s five minutes or one week, is unreal and we want a real ice cream not a theoretical one!
Furthermore, we don't yet have any concept of time measurement, so five minutes may as well be a year (and nobody wants to wait a year for ice cream!).
Our parents, who have forgotten how time works, will consider this unreasonable, and be warned, there are times they will lose their patience; try to forgive them, patience is a hard lesson to learn, as we know.
Lesson Three: Empathy
We are born into the world with limited ability to communicate; initially we can do no more than wail our needs and desires, and here is where we teach our parents to see the world through the eyes of another; to empathise. Learning to recognise somebody else's feelings is an important skill, and it’s vital that we teach our parents how to do this, because their being able to demonstrate empathy and compassion is crucial to our moral development.
Lesson Four: Communication
Life can be overwhelming sometimes; so many big emotions, and we don't even know what to call them yet, let alone how to deal with them! As you grow, you’ll learn to recognise sounds, and you will notice patterns. Gradually you will begin to identify the sounds, and you will develop the power of language. Trust me, there are some great advantages to being able to make the right sounds for “ice cream”!
But language has an even deeper value, and when combined with the lessons we have covered so far, our parents will learn that strong open communication creates connection and understanding. We all want to be understood, but first we must learn how to express ourselves coherently.
When we feel frustrated, and we will, (Seriously, Parents can be very frustrating!) our emotions will pour out of us, raw and uninhibited and often our parents will be triggered by this; they may feel the same compulsion, to release their own emotions to mix darkly with ours, sometimes they will. But the tools of love, patience and empathy will help them to maintain control, and gently demonstrate the magic of converting emotions into communication.
Lesson Five: Spontaneity
There are many things our parents can teach us about the world, but we are the experts in the art of play, and it’s one of the most important lessons we have to teach. As we touched on before, parents have a very distorted perception of time; I’m sure you have been as baffled as I have by their tendency to completely overlook the many fascinating wonders along a journey, so preoccupied, are they, by the destination!
We must persevere though; their minds have become cluttered but deep down inside, the spark still shines. It is our job to ignite it, and when you finally see it burn bright, when you see their eyes light up, as they remember how to play; the realisation that nothing exists outside of this moment….
Then you will truly know the significance of your purpose here on Earth.
