My husband John and I are real dog people. In fact, now we’re on our 5th golden retriever. When I was pregnant with our first child I actually phoned my mother to ask,
“Mom, what if I don’t love this baby as much as I love my dog?”
After she finished laughing, my Mom assured me that this was one thing I did not need to worry about!
Over the years I’ve learned many lessons from our dogs. Our retriever Duchess had the habit of greeting me whenever I came in the front door. The moment she heard the knob turn, she’d grab a magazine off the table, race to the front door with her tail wagging madly and greet me with exuberant joy! She made coming home fun. She knew how to celebrate “the greeting.” But as years went by and Duchess grew old it became difficult for her to get up off the basement floor and come to greet me. Coming home wasn’t as much fun. No one was there to greet me. It was no longer a celebration.
As I thought about Duchess in her old age, I realized I had become like her. It was often too much trouble to stop paying bills, doing the laundry, or cooking to go to the front door and throw my arms around my husband John (or our kids) and say, “I’m so glad you are home!”
It was simply easier to call out “hey” and keep doing what I was doing. Realizing this, I knew that I was missing an opportunity. When my husband opened the door I needed to stop whatever I was doing and immediately go to the door and throw my arms around him. And I needed to train my kids to do this as well. It is wise to turn “the greeting” into a celebration.
Today our daughter, Allison, (the one I was afraid I might not love as much as the dog!) has five children of her own and they live 2 streets from us. I see them frequently, yet every time I go to their house, her kids stop doing whatever they are doing and rush to greet me with a hug. No, it’s not natural. They have been taught to do this, not only to me but to others as well. I tell them how special it makes me feel.
What they are learning with this simple act is to honor another person whether they feel like it or not. It is a small, practical way of training kids in the character trait of respect. This becomes one little step in raising “other-centered kids” in a “me centered world.”
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