260520 What I learned in my studies this morning 6

Today's Meditation(s):

The most highly paid athletes in the world, the people who have practiced and trained their whole lives, the ones with every incentive and every predisposition necessary—what do they apparently need from their coaches? They need to be reminded over and over again of the basics. They need little mantras and mottos. They need encouragement. They need to hear the coach repeat the team values and rules over and over and over again.....

If the pros need to hear it a thousand times, your kids probably need to hear it again. And by ‘it,’ we mean everything—every lesson, every rule, every instruction. And by ‘again,’ we mean essentially an infinite number of times.

Not just for sports, but for all the things you want them to understand, for all the things they do. They’re going to need to hear it explained, over and over and over. They’re going to need it simplified, boiled down to its essence. They’re going to need it put up on the wall. They’re going to need to hear it via stories and examples. They’re going to need it called out when it’s done well…and reviewed when it isn’t.

That’s the only way they’ll learn it. That’s the only way they—or anyone—can live up to it.

It's tough not to get frustrated sometimes with the demand the kids put on my time.

I mean, seriously, I have important things to do: figure out a word in my puzzle; watch a hockey game; listen to my book; doze a bit in my chair; arrange my wedding; murder my wife; and frame Guilder for it. I'm swamped.

Certainly, I can see how these are all important things that cannot wait while I help my child remember that some things are not up to them or that they should choose virtue over vice.

Those are merely tools for life. What I am doing is crucial for my temporary, (fleeting, ephemeral, and unsatisfactory) relaxation.

So . . . if I choose my kid over such monumentally attractive choices, what should I do?

I've been thinking about creating some posters to put up to help my kids remember the lessons I have taught them. Unfortunately, when I search for 'stoic posters for kids,' all that shows up is bastardized, commercialized slop that doesn't include real Stoic teaching.

So I guess I'll just have to make some myself with real quotes and unadulterated teachings. Perhaps I'll post them here when I am done.