Top o’ the Mornin’ to Ya!
TLDR: This morning at the bus stop, my daughter’s tooth came out and she asked “Do you want to take it home?” I took off my mitten and said “No, I don’t.” In the past I would have said “Yes, I want to take that home for you” – and that was a lie.
I used to lie to my kids all the time. This morning, I walked Liz to the bus stop. Last night, she had this tooth that was hanging, like all the way over. My younger son said “I don’t know how she kept it in her mouth all night.” I was afraid she’d choke on it, because him and I, we would wiggle it and wiggle it until it came free before we went to sleep.
At the bus stop it came out of her mouth. She looked at me with that questioning look on her face about what do I do with this tooth. Then she said “Do you want to take it home?” I took off my mitten and held up my hand, and I said “No, I don’t.” And I took that tooth and brought it home safely for giving to the tooth fairy and moving on to the next step.
In the past I would have said “Yes, I want to take that home for you.” And part of me does want to take it home, right? And I used to say yes, I want to, yes. In fact, when I was leaving one of my jobs, I said “What can I do better as I move into this new position that I’m going to?” And they said “Quit saying yes all the time, quit agreeing to everything, quit doing everything.”
And I used to just do that with my kids. “Do you want to?” “No, I don’t.” And what does that show the children? That shows them I don’t wanna do a certain thing, but I’m going to do it anyway. Like, it’s not my top choice of things to do. If I was gonna do something right now, it’d be throwing snowballs or runing with the dog or going snowshoeing, but taking a tooth back to safety in our house isn’t top thing on my list.
And so I’ve tried to quit that type of lying and instead tell the truth. “No, I don’t want to. I’m choosing to for these reasons” and then demonstrating how to do things I may not really want to do. Remembering Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,”
So a few more teeth left to pull or fall out. She’ll be twelve in a couple weeks. But that’s what I’ve got for today.
Where are you lying, and where are you telling the truth, and what’s the real truth, and what’s underneath? I think that’s the whole philosophy of my entire coaching practice. What’s underneath and helping people discover it, find it, and prosper.
You be blessed!
