Friday, January 20, 2012

Barney Says

If you are a parent of a kid playing in any sport, you may catch yourself saying and yelling to them at one time or another or maybe all the time 
"You have to be more aggressive! You have to be more confident! You have to do more!"
You might turn blue in frustration or even red in anger. You might wonder in your mind and have doubt about your child's ability. You might even threaten them, 
"If you don't start producing then you are not going to play any more"
No matter what you say and how you say it, your kid may seem to block you out. You may even think that they are never going to get IT.
Heck you just hope that after all the work and time that eventually one day they will get IT. And maybe after they get IT, you can relax and enjoy and brag to your family and friends.

When my daughter was barely able to walk, I spent hours upon hours trying to teach her the basic colors.
I would go over and over the colors with her. When I would test her, she didn't have a clue. This went on day to day, week to week, but to no avail, she just didn't get IT. I started to think that maybe she didn't inherit any of my Genes. I would point to something Yellow and would ask her what color it was. She would calmly respond Black. Aaaaaah, I wanted to yell as my frustration grew.

One day after I picked her up from the babysitter and we were driving home, she calmly told me
"Daddy I know what color the sky is. It's Blue. I know the color of your shirt is Red"
She went on telling me all the way home the color of everything she could think of and visibly see. I didn't dare interrupt her. I let her go on and on cause I knew finally she had IT. When we got home, I asked how she knew all the colors and she responded
"Barney says the sky is blue. Barney says ........"  She went on and on
So next time you feel frustrated as can be at your child's performance and feel like you need to yell cause it may seem they are blocking you out, Remember that Barney says................ Use your IMAGINATION. And then one day when your child finally does get IT, you can relax and brag to everyone including family and friends
"Yeah, you know......... he or she inherited all my GENES!"