Memo From Your Child
- Don’t spoil me. I know quite well that I ought not to have all that I ask for. I’m testing you.
- Don’t be afraid to be firm with me. I prefer it; it makes me feel more secure.
- Don’t let me form bad habits. I have to rely on you to detect them in the early stages.
- Don’t make me feel smaller than I really am. It only makes me behave stupidly “big”.
- Don’t correct me in front of people if you can help it. I’ll take much more notice if you talk to me privately.
- Don’t make me feel my mistakes are sins. It upsets my sense of values.
- Don’t protect me from consequences. I sometimes have to learn the painful way.
- Don’t be too upset when I say, “I hate you.” It isn’t you I hate, but your power to thwart me.
- Don’t take too much notice of my small ailments. Sometimes they get me the attention I need.
- Don’t nag. If you do, I shall have to protect myself by appearing deaf.
- Don’t forget that I can not explain myself as well as I should like; this is why I’m not always accurate.
- Don’t make rash promises. Remember that I feel badly let down when promises are broken.
- Don’t tax my honesty too much. I am easily frightened into telling lies.
- Don’t be inconsistent. That completely confuses me and makes me lose faith in you.
- Don’t tell me my fears are silly. They are terribly real to me and you can do much to reassure me if you try to understand.
- Don’t put me off when I ask questions. If you do, you will find that I stop asking and get my information elsewhere.
- Don’t ever suggest that you are perfect or infallible. It gives me too great a shock when I discover that you are neither.
- Don’t ever think it is beneath your dignity to apologize to me. An honest apology makes me feel surprisingly warm toward you.
- Don’t forget how quickly I am growing up. It must be difficult to keep pace with me, but please, do try.
- Don’t forget that I love experimenting. I couldn’t get along without it so please put up with it.
- Don’t forget that I can’t thrive without lots of understanding love, but I don’t need to tell you that do I?
by Thomas C. Ritt, Jr., Arizona ACLD Newsletter December, 1975
What happens on Sunflower Faith?
