Zach, after spending 12 hours at school and helping me run an event, catches me in the teacher's lounge washing dishes....
"Mom, I just wanted to take a moment to tell you that I love you and you're the best mom ever! Can I have a hug and a kiss?" He was tired, probably hungry. I was expecting him to walk in and complain. But no, he chose to honor his mom and exude patience. After totally losing my tears, it hit me. I realized that parenthood is about being an example. You see, I had been running around setting everything up. I kept a smile on my face and a positive attitude throughout all the stressful moments and hard work. After years of yelling, nagging my kids to do things and to be good, I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of this parenting thing. I stopped yelling and started transforming myself. Instead of chiding my children to "Say please, say thank you, work hard, and clean your room!" I started to SAY please, SAY thank you, WORK hard, and CLEAN MY ROOM." Well, I'm still working on that last part ;)
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