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An homage to V-Day
I just love the wisdom I glean from the people who attend my classes. Every class is good for at least one choice nugget. We talk about good (and bad) restaurants, books, activities around town…and very often about our kids, and what they are teaching us of late.
We learn so much from children, whether ours or someone else’s…they just ask such great questions that make us think in a profoundly new way. “Why are phones not allowed in the playground, Mommy?” Why indeed? Well, I suppose because if Mommy were talking on her phone, she might not notice you run out of the playground and into the parking lot. Huh. So that’s why that sign is there.
Children teach us how to love more deeply, through anger, tears and every other emotion. The love is always there, always. In order to nurture that love and ensure the loving kids grow up to be loving grown-ups, we have to love ourselves. And what shows more love and respect for yourself than taking time to be fit? (You knew I had to get to it somehow, wink wink.) When your children see you get ready and leave to go exercise on a regular basis, they think that’s a natural thing for a person to do, and that’s as it should be. We teach them to say “please” and “thank you,” and we teach them to make time for exercise.
One of my favorite recent nuggets from class is this fantastic idea: To teach our daughters how ladies deserve to be treated by a man, daddy (or uncle or grandpa) takes the little girl out on a Valentine’s date. The girl gets to dress up, and her daddy puts on nice clothes, gives her a flower, and takes her out to dinner (early, but then you get daddy back for your V-Day dinner later!). I just love this idea. I’m all about cultivating self-respect at the earliest possible age. Thanks to my (very happily married) student, my husband is planning a lovely little dinner date for himself and his baby girl.
Valentine’s Day is not about cards and candy and flowers. It’s about loving your partner, your kids and yourself. When you do, it shows, and the world notices.
