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How we talk to and correct our students can affect them (and your reputation) for a lifetime. You as a coach are part of the young students up bringing.
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Remember, We're Raising Children, Not Flowers!
David, my next-door neighbor, has two young kids ages five and seven. One day he was teaching his seven-year-old son Kelly how to push the gas-powered lawn mower around the yard. As he was teaching him how to turn the mower around at the end of the lawn, his wife, Jan, called to him to ask a question. As David turned to answer the question, Kelly pushed the lawn mower right through the flowerbed at the edge of the lawn -leaving a two-foot wide path leveled to the ground!
When David turned back around and saw what had happened, he began to lose control. David had put a lot of time and effort into making those flower beds the envy of the neighborhood. As he began to raise his voice to his son, Jan walked quickly over to him, put her hand on his shoulder and said, "David, please remember...we're raising children, not flowers!"
Jan reminded me how important it is as a parent (and coach) to remember our priorities. Kids and their self-esteem are more important than any physical object they might break or destroy. The windowpane shattered by a baseball, a lamp knocked over by a careless child, or a plate dropped in the kitchen are already broken. The flowers are already dead. I must remember not to add to the destruction by breaking a child's spirit and deadening his sense of liveliness.
Let's remember that our children's spirits are more important than any material things. When we do, self-esteem and love blossom and grow more beautifully than any bed of flowers ever could.
~ Author Unkown ~
(As contributed on eGroups by Bert Blanchette)
