[181 words]
We gave our son three key rules to help him get through primary school without causing too many incidences. They worked, and he came close to admitting they continue to help make him successful now.
In light of all the misconduct and abuse being recently revealed about some powerful people, I thought I would share his three rules, because there are some grown-ups that could really put these to good use.
Each morning before we dropped our son off at school, we asked, “What are your rules?” The correct answer:
• Keep my mouth closed.
• Do what the teacher says.*
• Keep my hands to myself.
(*Substitute babysitter, boss, grown-up, parents, etc., depending on the situation.)
We occasionally reminded him that grown-ups also followed these rules if they wanted to stay out of trouble. I can’t think of very many things that I’ve done wrong that were not caused by breaking one of these foundational behaviors.
I also believe that all self-help books are highly derivative of my findings. Maybe I should figure out how to get the royalties.
Butch Adams
Plano, TX