In Dad’s Life Lessons On The Wall, I shared an easy and loving way to teach your child important life lessons. Perhaps one of my lessons is one of yours?
Rule #2: Negative thoughts eat away at your brain. Don’t let this happen.
On seven-year-old Zachary’s wall is a picture of an acidifying apple. A beautiful green apple with a few bites taken out of it, now turning brown. Soon it will get mushy, unappetizing.
“Are you a green apple or a brown apple,” I ask him. “Green,” he typically responds, totally understanding the analogy for more than two years now.
I explain the brain is the most important muscle in the body. Just like the muscles he needs to do a push up, the brain’s muscles need to be exercised to stay healthy. We need to keep the “brown stuff” out of his brain because brown stuff can make him very sick.
A Brown Apple
I let Zach and five-year-old Lucas know I have brown days. Everyone has brown days; it’s normal. I tell them happiness is one of the five things I wish for my children; that I will do everything in my power to help them have it.
Zachary was praying the other day: It’s usually a list of things to thank God for. Once I interjected with “and thank God for sadness.” Of course, he asked why.
“Without sadness,” I began, “you wouldn’t appreciate happiness as much. If you were happy all the time, happiness would be expected, taken for granted. Sadness gives you the perspective you need to really enjoy happiness.” He understood.
Taboo?
My wife and I debate how appropriate it is to talk about such a grown up thing as mental health with our young children. What do you think: How early is “too early” to introduce the subject of mental health to your children?
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Good luck from a fellow Dad,
Joe Hage
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