Inspiration from a young mind

A couple of years back, I came home from work and shortly after was approached by my seven-year-old son. He had in his hand my nice, expensive watch that I quickly noticed was no longer fully intact. His first words were, "Dad...you don't really wear this thing that much anymore, do you?"

He was right...I don't wear the watch as often as I used to but that didn't change the fact that I felt my blood pressure rising abruptly and I quickly reacted with, "Ethan! That's my nicest watch and I've told you not to play with it before." He knew I was upset and put his head down in dismay. A reaction I remember fondly when I was his age feeling like I had let my father down. I felt right then that the best thing I could do was give it a few minutes and walk away to think about what I would like to say to him next before allowing my emotions get the best of me and lose an opportunity to make an impact in a positive way rather than portraying that materialistic things in life are more important.

I went outside to mow the lawn and thought about what I wanted to say to my son. When I came back inside Ethan greeted me at the door and said, "Dad, I left something on the counter for you." It was a card he made while I was mowing. 

The card read:

"I'm sorry Dad for breaking your watch"

"Don't worry I will get you a new watch"

"It will take 30 years, or a month"

After bringing a giant smile to my face and a good laugh with my wife, I made my way over and sat next to Ethan on the couch. I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed the love I have for him with all that I had. Again he said to me, "I'm so sorry Dad. You can have the watch you gave me. Or I will buy you a new one - it just might take me a bit."

After making it clear that I accepted his apology and knew that he was genuinely sorry for what happened, I took the opportunity to explain to my son that I did not care about the watch. Items like this can always be replaced. What I wanted him to understand was that the true frustration that I felt, in the end, came from the fact that his mother had told him to put the watch back and not to play with it. He made the decision to not listen to her request and something unfortunate came from this disobedient act. I wanted him to understand that as loving parents there are going to be plenty of times in the span of him living in our household, under our house rules, that he will disagree or not want to do as we say - but the bottom line is his mother and I will always attempt to do everything we can to protect him and his sister and do what we feel is best for his well-being.

That was his father-son lesson for the day.

The son-father lesson that he unknowingly provided for me came from the last page of his card..."It will take 30 years or a month."

As a young boy beginning to help around the house with chores and learning the value of the dollar - and knowing that my watch was something one would have to work very hard for to earn enough to be able to buy - he understood that this presented a bigger challenge than normal. However, like many children his age, his mind processed it as a rather simple obstacle. I asked him why he thought it would take either thirty years or a month. He explained to me, "Well if I don't really work that hard it's gonna take me years to make enough money to buy you a watch like that. But if I work my butt off I'm thinking I could do it in about a month." Talk about a proud dad moment!

My seven-year-old son reminded me today that often times we come across challenges that can at first seem utterly impossible to overcome. However, if we engage the challenge with the right mindset, attitude and a plan - we are all capable of achieving what we set out to do.

Thank you, Son!