Leading From the Front {of My Family}

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People often talk about “leading from the front” in a business sense…saying that a good leader is defined by his or her actions rather than words. To anyone with a position of authority, this makes quite a bit of sense. But what about as a parent? Much like a manager or other leader, we just want to inspire our people to be good people, to put their whole selves into life and to get the most out of all situations.  

But real life scenarios come along. It’s so easy to tell our kids one thing…and then we end up doing something contradictory. You tell them to be nice to others, but they may see you lose your cool with the DMV clerk who is dishing out a bad attitude. You tell them to use kind words, but they may overhear you speaking badly of the parent on the committee who isn’t pulling his or her weight. You tell them to be active, but when you get to the park, you just want to sit down on the bench while they run around. Yes, I am guilty of all of the above examples. It’s hard to be consistent and remember that these little eyes are on us ALL OF THE TIME. Plus what resonates with one kid, will go over the others’ heads.

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                                                    Rowayton Turkey Trot 2015

Example, you ask?  My husband and I were never runners, until we had too many children and it was a good way to burn some calories while getting the kids out of the house. Sure, we hoped that we were providing a good example for the children….but the picture above indicates that only 1 out of the 3 seem to have noticed…little girlfriend loves a good finish line. She finished the running portion of the Greenwich triathlon in July with her Daddy and put herself into training the following week for the 2016 Rowayton Turkey Trot. She is so inspired by our hard work that she wants to repeat it. Situations like this are what keep us mindful as parents. These little people are watching and absorbing. They are learning how to be human beings from us. We know that the boys are enjoying their 5K from the stroller…and we trust that they will find their own ways to be active from our example!  

Another example is the recent election. Those of us with school-age children have been talking about it at home because they were discussing it at school. Those of us with smaller children probably took them along to the polls and talked to them about it as we put them to bed. It doesn’t matter whether your candidate won or lost. What matters is how you are responding to the resulting chaos in our country. We can’t deny that a lot of people are upset…and our children are watching. The future voters of our country are watching. We are telling our children to be kind and accepting of others, but are our actions backing that up? Are you part of the name calling on Facebook? Or are you initiating respectful dialogue? Are you actively advocating for your beliefs? Or just complaining about the situation? Regardless, your children are watching your behavior. Lead from the front. Be the good and kind person that you want your child to grow up to be.

In what ways do you lead from the front at home?

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