Because I was a single mom for so many years, I know full well what it’s like to be in survival mode and uptight and worried too much of the time. Unfortunately, this affects the way we parent, and sometimes we as parents say things we wish we could take back. For example, the small price of something that a child wasted is never worth saying something that will break their heart. Children do the best with what they have, and I can say that the homemade gifts my children made for me are worth all the treasures in the world and they hold a place of honor in my home. They mean more than anything they could ever have bought. The dad in the fictional story below learned that the hard way. Enjoy this story and pass it along to young parents.
The story goes that some time ago, a man punished his 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became infuriated when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree. Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, “This is for you, Daddy.”
The man was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he found out the box was empty. He yelled at her, stating, “Don’t you know, when you give someone a present, there is supposed to be something inside? The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and cried, “Oh, Daddy, it’s not empty at all. I blew kisses into the box. They’re all for you, Daddy.”
The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her forgiveness.
Only a short time later, an accident took the life of the child. It is also told that her father kept that gold box by his bed for many years and, whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.
In a very real sense, each one of us, as humans beings, have been given a gold container filled with unconditional love and kisses… from our children, family members and friends. There is simply no other possession, anyone could hold, more precious than this.
