I'LL GROW INTO IT DADDY...

Not too long ago I read a book by Dale Carnegie where he shared a story called Father Forgets. It is a short but to the point story that kids must be allowed to be kids. The story struck a chord with me, because I can be pretty hard on my kiddos. I want to balance holding them to a standard and allowing them to be unruly.


I took this picture tonight. This is Jax’s guitar that he bought with own birthday money resting in my guitar case. My guitar is in my office next to my desk, but that is another story. This reminds me how small by big boy still is. He is only going to be in the second grade this year. He wants so much to be like me in so many ways, but he is still so little. For that matter, they are all still so little. Here is to letting kids be kids and laughing with them with they make honest mistakes.

Those convinced against their will are of the same opinion still.

Dale Carnegie said this about 40 times so far in the book I am reading now. The count may not be that high, but the quote has been lodged in my mind for a few days. He has another one that speaks to the same point: “The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.” What he is trying to say is that arguing is pointless. Even if you are right, what have you accomplished by pounding your view into the other party? You’ve proven that you value showing how much you know over being friendly. So, next time you are with someone and they say how much they love the 1961 Mustang, don’t be a jerk and point out that that first model of the Mustang was the ‘64 ½. Say something benign like, “I do love the early Mustangs as well.” I’ll give this a shot over the next few months.