I grew up in a pretty small town. It had a dying mall, a few franchise restaurants and businesses and the high school football team was pretty full of themselves since they were quite good. I never liked football and I probably never will. I don’t hate it, it’s just not my thing. When I was around seven or eight years old I can remember reacting to things quite differently than I do today. We all were strange when we were kids.
I was the silent type and a bit shy. I tended to like hanging with few close friends rather than in big groups. I hated being forced to socialize and go to events or be on sports teams. That didn’t stop my parents from forcing me to play baseball, basketball, soccer, tennis and even football. I don’t think I was upset the entire time. I will admit, some of it was fun at times, but again, sports are not my cup of tea. I like personal competition more than anything. Good thing that kids nowadays can have DIY wooden playhouse kits so they can play with their siblings and close friends that they are not shy to interact with. But later on, I started to like combat sports which also helped me build strength and increase my endurance. If you’re also interested with combat sports, then check out this Best Grappling Dummy reviews here for more info! You can also enroll your kids at Martial Arts Rochester MN. This will help them develop self-confidence and learn how to defend themselves.
So since I was the silent type, when I would get upset I would usually use revenge as my weapon. I was silent, but effective. In some ways that can be much worse since my parents couldn’t tell I was doing it half the time since I was pretty quiet already. I had a knack for hiding things that other people cherished, including the TV remote. My parents and my siblings hated that. I remember just grinning when they would be searching for it. It was such a thrill for me.
Now that you know that friendly revenge through hiding things was secret weapon, let me tell you a little story where I felt like an avenger rather than a little smart ass.
There was a friend of mine in grade school that would actually stay over at my house in the evenings after school because his mother would work late. My mom would take care of him and his little sister almost every night of the week. We would work on homework sometimes, but for the most part we would just hang out as kids do. Then one day my friend was a bit rude to my mother. It made me really upset. I began plotting against him to avenge my mother.
I then devised a plan to grab his backpack full of papers and school books and I hid it from him when he didn’t notice. I placed it in a spot where no one would find it. He just thought he forgot it at school. The next day he realized that wasn’t the case. For a week he and his mother were searching for this backpack. He was missing school books so the teachers were getting upset with him. There were some papers that needed signing and it really became a bigger problem than I thought it would be.
I began to feel bad after hearing his mother and my mother talk about it more and more. Regret started to sync in.
I then approached my mom when my friend was not there and told her what I did. I confessed to my mischievous act. Of course I got in trouble and the usual punishment from my parents. I can remember my mom talking to me about why I did it and me explaining my reasons. It was actually one of the first serious discussion I remember having with my mother as a kid. It was one of the first steps into becoming a more open and honest person.
I think we can easily forget the little stunts we pull as a kid and what we learned from them. At such a young age we are more sensitive to emotions and we are pretty selfish. Each time we get in trouble we just want to do it again for the thrill. To see if we can get away with it. The moments when our parents talk to us like equals and want to understand rather than just scold is when we begin to comprehend morality a little more.
This idea can also be true at any part of our life. Sometimes we just have to sit down with someone and try to understand. Not try to solve the problem right away, just comprehend first. It’s easy to forget to just listen rather than tell.
