Shinny Happy Space Cadet

by | Mar 31, 2014 | Blog

My greatest Guru did it again last night. He opened my eyes even further to what I thought I already knew. My greatest Guru is my child (I’m sure, if you think about it, yours is your child too). Last night he taught me that I have a lot to learn about what I already know. This story has been wanting to be written for some time, but last night I found out why it needed to wait just a bit longer. After having company for dinner, my son and my friend played a game with my yoga ball on the stairs. We were all laughing at the silliness that was unfolding. After the play session was over, my son started to cry and say that my friend was bulling him. Was she? I had to think. There was playful name calling that he seemed to be taking part of. It all just seemed like just fun and games. I was wrong. It turned out that his name calling was in serious response to what he considered bulling. As I mediated between him and my well intending friend, I found myself comparing the incident to how I felt when my dad would call me a space cadet. Why do, or did, adults think it was okay to playfully call us names? My son pointed out that his friends don’t do this when they play. He was right. When adults or children did that when I was young I was always hurt. I always took it seriously even when I may have seemed to have played along. The children that...