When legendary basketball coach John Wooden’s son was born, a friend sent him a framed picture with the following poem:
A Little Fellow Follows Me
A careful man I want to be,
A little fellow follows me;
I do not dare to go astray,
For fear he’ll go the self-same way.I cannot once escape his eyes,
Whate’er he sees me do, he tries;
Like me he says he’s going to be,
This little chap who follows me.He thinks that I am good and fine,
Believes in every word of mine;
The base in me he must not see,
This little chap who follows me.I must remember as I go,
Through summer’s sun and winter’s snow;
I am building for the years to be.
That little chap who follows me.
So often, we want to teach our children to do this and that, or not do this or that. To be kind and righteous, to work hard, to avoid bad company, to have patience...
Endless nagging never seems to help. We don’t know if they understand our words—or are even listening. But they are always watching us. They need models more than they need critics.
We want our children to have a healthy relationship with technology. But are we scrolling Instagram on our phones over dinner?
We want them to be kind and helpful. But did we stop to help the old lady cross the road in the rain?
We want them to work hard. But can they see us working hard?
We want them to be polite. But how do we speak at home?
Remember: Whatever he sees you do, he tries.
P.S. Want to come back to this later? Keep it in your commonplace book.