TOLERANCE

Whenever I find myself beginning to be intolerant or insensitive with my daughters, I think back to a similar incident I put my mother through and I smile and understand their need to be themselves.

—Annette Jones White

Let’s face it, children can be annoying, ridiculous, and irrational. They take to clothing we find laughable, friends we find objectionable, and postures that can drive us up a wall. It helps to stop a minute and recall our youth. No doubt we did our share of groping around, trying to adopt the right look and attitude. Possibly we made a few wrong turns, too. Let’s refrain from losing our cool with our children. As long as their behavior is neither dangerous nor self-destructive, we can recognize it as an attempt to discover themselves and find out how they fit into the world.

On this day, I will take five minutes to think back on my childhood and adolescence, and remember some of the grief I put my parent or care giver through.