Do you remember the very first words that came from the mouth of your little ones? How about when they put their very first sentence together? I remember being proud as a peacock. Somewhere along the journey, I found myself almost demanding that they close their lips until further notice.
Children are like parakeets, always repeating what they hear. If you want them to repeat what you say-choose your words wisely!
I learned (momentarily) a valuable lesson when my husband and I were called and asked to come to the guidance office at the elementary school. One of my children expressed their frustration with some classy artwork and descriptive writing on the back of their spelling test.
Looking over their work, I asked, “where did you hear THAT word?!”
Can you guess where? I bet you guessed correctly. But hey, although the artwork was indeed artsy, the word was spelled wrong.
In my embarrassment, I took full responsibility while seizing a teachable moment from my child.
Numerous times of speaking in a rude manner, spouting out unkind words, uttering inconsiderate comments has wreaked havoc in my household on more than one occasion.
Parenting years bring undesirable frustrations with children's deliberate defiance, unruly behavior and unwise choices. Oftentimes reprimanding occurs using inappropriately and disrespectful words, at least in my home.
There is no one-size-fits-all answer in dealing with rearing children. Many factors can create an arduous atmosphere when tensions are high and hurtful words are bellowed out.
Retracting some of my verbiage would be desirable, but that will never happen. I will be forever indebted to my children. They all deserve merit badges.
Pondering my thoughts about the words I speak everyday took me back just a few (many) years to my childhood. I can remember yelling to those unkind whippersnappers, “sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me.”
Whoever came up with that phrase must have never had mean words said to them. It could not be further from the truth. Throw sticks and stones at me if you want too. These bones will heal.
It probably would not take long to think back to a moment when an admirable person spoke gratifying words to you, boosting your self-esteem. Most likely it will take less time to remember those who hurled insulting and destructive words, piercing the very core of your spirit.
Words can hurt and unfortunately, wounds from them will remain in and on our hearts for a long time. Sometimes forever.
We convey our thoughts and feelings by the words we speak, text and post on social media. I read in a recent survey that on average a person speaks about 16,000 words per day. That’s a lot of words. Certainly, that depends on age, culture and many other factors.
Some research even suggests that women speak way more words than men. I am quite sure that those statistics are from a male’s perspective.
Words are a reflection of how we perceive ourselves and others. Have you ever thought about how negative, unguarded, reckless words can impact your life or the life of another…spouse, child, friend? Remember the old adage your grandparents and parents used to say? “If you can’t say anything nice, then don’t say anything at all.”
Quoteinvestigator.com shares an earlier variant of the adage which reads, “If you can’t say something good about someone, sit here by me.”
It appeared in the December 4, 1965 issue of the Saturday Evening Post and a profile of Alice Roosevelt Longworth titled “The Sharpest Wit in Washington.” Alice is the daughter of President Teddy Roosevelt.
I like sitting beside my husband. I am indebted to him as he holds me accountable in my speech conduct. He informs me-with kind words, of course-when I need to hush up.
Biblical instruction from James says that our tongue is like the rudder on a ship - even though it is a small part of the ship, it determines exactly where the ship will go. So, our tongue has the power to leave us shipwrecked or to take us safely into the harbor.
We must all consider our words and how we can use them to make the world a better place. Words matter. In my mature (not old) age, I am progressing. I prefer to be safe in the harbor.