Up in the middle of the night...I didn't get enough done last night because I was not feeling great. Decided to go to bed, sleep all night, start again in the morning. After all, it's S#3. She knows I'm not perfect, and if I'm not ready for guests - she would help. But no...at 4:00 am I was wide awake. After 40 minutes I knew my night was over and got up and started cleaning and cooking. This is where my crazy-lady shows itself - the cycling lists, inability to just relax. I always feel responsible, and will never do the fun thing if I can find a "must do" thing to keep me distracted.
Anyway, that's not why I decided to show up here. I had two thoughts to share in my 40 minutes of trying to go back to sleep. One is that kids don't seem to have respect because they don't have a way to develop empathy. So how does empathy develop? There must be something in human culture/family culture that teaches empathy. That something has to be missing now that we institutionalize our infants at 6 weeks.
But I think it's a kinder way to approach this - what happened to you? What wounded you so much that you have lost your capacity for empathy? (Don't say this out loud, say it with your heart!) It's better than 'kids are so disrespectful.' That just sounds like Pop to me!
The other point...I read an article about leadership training this week. One company decided to teach a group of third and fourth graders leadership skills, just too see how young they could begin. The kids got it, and loved it and used it - on their parents and each other. They were taught to make sure the other never lost their self-confidence. They were taught to focus on the issue, not on the person. I think this kind of training, and/or non-violent communication techniques could be integrated into your workshop.
My cat has decided it's make-out time - she is climbing on me, purring and getting in my face, and I have forgotten what I was going to say next...I'll be back on Sunday.
Have a happy day!
C.
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