TREAT OTHERS AS YOU WOULD WANT TO BE TREATED
Have you ever noticed that sometimes a lesson that we think we teach others can come back to us over and over again? What do I mean by that? Well let me explain by sharing another lesson that this time I taught(notice the bold----rarely do I do the teaching) my daughter. Don't get too excited for me, I was able to teach it and then she was able to use it many times over later in life on me. Sometimes I'm great at not practicing what I preach. When this happens, my beautiful little Angel nudges me and with a dose of humility my clouded way of thinking is much clearer.
This time she was much younger, I think eight maybe. Both her father and I worked and that meant daycare for her. On this particular day, after picking her up I noticed a slight difference in her, a slight air of arrogance. Maybe she had colored the best picture in the class that day I thought and the praise from the teacher had gone to her head. I dismissed it, until she told me of her day. There was a new boy in day care. She went on and on about how since he was new, none of the kids were nice to him. What the...........I thought to myself, this isn't my sweet little girl, she befriended everyone. I knew this required more digging on my part. 
Her: Squirming in her seat not sure how to answer, "Well yeah, he's new and he doesn't even try to be our friend. He doesn't even talk to us, so we don't talk to him".
I could tell that this justification sparked the arrogance again.
Her: "And you don't know mom. You weren't there. So I don't care if you get mad at me.
Everyone thinks it. And I don't have to be every body's friend."
As I sat there fighting the urge to snap my fingers, give her a head shake and full attitude and tell her oh, she better care if I get mad, a calmness came over me and I smiled at her. I informed her that I wasn't mad at her at all and that she was right she had the right to make choices. She folded her arms with the biggest grin on her face. I allowed her to puff up as proud as a peacock. I looked straight ahead and said just remember this, is that how you would want to be treated. Pretend you're the new kid, how would it make you feel? Be friends with who you want, but remember to treat everyone exactly how you would want to be treated. I dropped the subject immediately and we discussed something else. I didn't know if it had
penetrated, but I could see in her eyes, she was thinking about it.
The next day I picked her up, I had forgotten our discussion, it seemed work and life had gotten in the way. The director of the daycare asked me if I could step into the office, the conversation I had with my daughter the day before rushed back to my head. Oh man, here it goes, I thought. As I walked into the office, there was a lady that I didn't recognize patiently waiting. My mind raced trying to figure out what was going on, when the director introduced me to the lady. The unknown woman stood up and walked towards me, that is when I realized there was a boy with her. Her hand was outstretched and a smile adorned her face. I still had no clue what was going on. The woman began thanking me for raising such an extraordinary child. She continued to tell me that when she picked her son up yesterday he cried an begged her not to take him back to daycare, because none of the kids liked him and he had no friends. When she dropped him off this morning, my daughter ran up to him asked him if he would like to play with her and her friends, took his hand and led him away. When she came to pick him up he was sitting next to my daughter and didn't want to leave. She continued on to say he had a hard time making friends and she hadn't seen him this happy in a long time.
Yes I will admit that the praise I gave my daughter on the ride home was self-serving. I even felt myself puff like a peacock. BUT you may think this story is over. Oh, no. Later that night I sat complaining to my husband of a co-worker that I didn't care for too much over dinner, gloating about how big of a b----(I'm sure you can fill in the blanks) I was. My daughter calmly smiled and in her angelic way said, did you treat them like you would want to be treated. It really makes you feel good Mom. This wasn't the last time she asked me this same question.
So, I would ask that you look at the people in your life and do a quick evaluation...............are you treating them like you would want to be treated?
Peace~
M
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