...with Poppy and our daughter off to a wedding shower, my son and I have some things we need to accomplish on this sunny, breezy and mellow Sunday.
Our son has been mowing a few common area lawns last Summer and this Spring and has decided that he would like to do more...and make a little cash! He has some hand drawn flyers around the village and has gotten a few customers. He has plenty to learn about communicating with people about schedules and payments; and he also has plenty to learn about doing a thorough job of mowing a lawn. Some of the customers' lawns needed mowing today and another one needed some follow up communication. All of these people (customers) are perfectly capable of doing it themselves, but they're giving him the opportunity to work.
...and in that, was revealed MY opportunity.We got out there together and got into some great father/son stuff. I was afforded a chance to work with him on communicating with people directly, making a schedule and sticking to it...and some hands on training with the mower. The special part was that it allowed me to be in the moment with who he is and how he learns and really try to recognize how he best took it in...in doing this, I received the gift of patience and connection. Not only connected with him, but also my connection to fatherhood.
We definitely do not all do things the same way, and I always hope so badly that I am doing it right. I am also aware that I am not the first person to have that hope. My most important gift today was in the form of this lesson: to always try to recognize the subtle opportunities to help my children learn and to do it in such a way that leaves a lasting impression, no matter how long it takes, how many times through it and how different it may be from how anyone else may be doing it. When the connection is there - I am doing a good job.
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