My 23 year old son, who lives in San Marcos, came for dinner so we had a big feast, including a dessert. My 6 year old son decided he didn’t like any of the vegetables that were on the table; he only wanted meat and the dinner rolls. I told him it was fine if he didn’t eat anything except a piece of meat and a roll (at first, he refused even the meat), but he was only allowed to have one roll and he would have no chocolate pie afterward. Well…this created quite the emotional event. He tried every trick in the book to get that piece of pie, without having to eat even one bite of the three different vegetables on his plate. He refused even to taste them. Of course I wouldn’t ever force him to eat anything…but I wasn’t going to give him pie, either. I know this isn’t a new story. If you use to be a little boy, you know what I mean.
So- should I have given my little boy a piece of pie, even though he refused to take ONE bite of vegetables? Should he learn that rewards follow a refusal to even try? Do I want him to be a self indulgent adult adult man who feels entitled to pie… no matter what? Somewhere there is a lesson in all of this. “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” (2 Thessalonians 3:10)
Without putting forth effort, we can expect no success. Strength and health most often result from work and sacrifice. Sometimes we don’t like the taste of it. Sometimes it’s just hard work. Frankly, the more success we hope to achieve, the more work we must be prepared to do. No matter how society has tried to change the rules, the truth cannot be avoided: there is no true reward without effort on the part of the individual. The sooner we teach our children this truth, the better prepared they will be to start working toward their own personal successes.
I don’t know if JT will taste his vegetables the next time we have dessert. That’s up to him. I don’t know if the lessons I try to teach my children will be learned or not. I know it is my job to teach them what I know is true, by example and words.
In the end, each of us determines whether or not we eat metaphorical pie. How about you; do you want it?
Sally Windham-Blackburn is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer and Fitness Instructor in Blanco, TX. Please send questions and comments to sally_blackburn@yahoo.com
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