My Kids Are My Teachers

People say parents are their children’s best teachers. But children are their parents’ best teachers, too.

One summer day, we were watching a tennis star practice. Every now and then, he and the other players hit balls into the crowd.

My older daughter got very excited. She really wanted to catch one.

We were sitting in a high section, and she wanted to move lower, thinking it would be easier. I was reluctant. The chances of catching a ball seemed far too low. But she insisted, so we walked down.

Once, a ball landed near her, but she didn’t catch it. Another time, a ball flew about three feet from me, and I didn’t catch it either.

She was frustrated and wanted to move even lower. Eventually, she worked her way through the crowd all the way to the very first row, with no one between her and the players. She reached for every ball with everything she had.

She still couldn’t catch one.

My daughter is far more persistent than I am. From an adult’s point of view, the chance of catching a ball in a stadium is too small to be worth the effort. From hers, she simply wanted it. Purely and wholeheartedly.

Exhausted after all her attempts, she cried, screamed, and fell asleep in the stroller.

But the end of the story?

While she was sleeping, my wife went to a store by the stadium and bought her a ball.

She really, really wanted a ball. And in the end, she got it.