As Father’s Day approaches, I got a lesson in humility and a reminder that little ears are never too far away. Without going into a lot of details, let me just put it this way – if you need a disclaimer that says “what Mommy and I say here stays here”, then it is probably something that just shouldn’t be said. The problem is that as I have gotten older, I have become more opinionated. Maybe I was opinionated before, but now I am more vocal in stating my opinion. While it may be good to be “real” or “honest”, there are some things that just shouldn’t be said.
Yesterday I was informed that “the boy” had apparently expressed some opinions to some other kids that sounded like something I would have said. Now if you know “the boy”, you know that he is a child of VERY few words. Even around his friends. So I’m still not 100% sure I believe my source on this supposed incident, but I have to be his dad and address it nonetheless. That was where it got painful to me…as well it should be.
I began our conversation by explaining that I have a big mouth. I explained that before we even talked about the “incident” I need to apologize to him for not keeping MY opinions to myself and thus putting those thoughts in his mind as well. I explained that I needed to learn from this and do a better job of keeping my thoughts and opinions to myself. I then told him I was sorry. We addressed the incident (which he also denies happened by the way) and moved on. If the incident in question really occurred, I’m glad we addressed it. The good feelings ended there though.
I spent the rest of the evening wrestling with my inability to keep my words under control. They aren’t malicious or mean, they are just my view or opinion.That doesn’t translate to 9 year old understanding and interpretation the same and that is why I need to be more careful in choosing my words. Lesson learned.
That’s all I have to say about that……
AARON CONRAD 