Resolution: Practice What You Preach

Whenever we would boss or criticize one another, my mom used to tell my siblings and I, “practice what you preach.” It’s always been good advice. I had the opportunity to write about this concept from a mother’s perspective in an essay published in the January issue of Little Rock Family magazine.

image by Brent Bennett

What if we, as mothers, practice what we preach more often? Well, let’s just say I have my new year’s resolutions cut out for me. Do any of these sound familiar to you?

• Get some rest. I found myself yawning through a speech to my daughter, Carina, about how she needed to get her rest so she would be ready for the next day. And then I stayed up an hour later than I had intended that night, doing a whole lot of nothing. The next day I was tired, and envious of Carina’s energy level. Go figure.

• Be Nice. I say this to my kids a lot, because it is necessary and helpful in so many situations. And really, for adults too, nearly every situation in life is best handled by being nice. I’m a pretty nice gal already, but I’m going to try being nice more often. When I’m driving, when my dish washer breaks and the repair guy doesn’t show up within the assigned eight hour window that I’ve spent chained to the house, or when someone wakes me up at 3am just to let me know they need to go potty…

• No Whining. While I consider myself to be a “realist”, others might call me a pessimist. And certainly, I’ve been annoyed to pieces by some of my peers who can’t find the bright side of anything. I don’t know who came up with the saying, “You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit,” but if we could make it a national mantra, I bet our kids would whine less too.

Go here to read the essay on Little Rock Family’s website, with seven more rules for kids that parents should follow too.

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