Do you wonder whether your children notice your actions, and whether they are influenced by such actions?
I was a young teenager and we were poor. My father cashed his paycheck at the bank, and when returned home, he counted the money. He frowned and asked mom to count it because the amount was incorrect.
My mom counted the money and confirmed that he received an extra $100 liras. I remember my ears perking and hoping we would have extra toys that month.
My father told us he is returning the money to the bank. It would have been really easy to rationalize that we really needed the money. And besides, the bank is a faceless business and they have more money than us. But my father said that the money was not ours.
It has been over 40 years, and I vividly remember that incident. Every time I receive too much change, my father’s actions remind me to make the right decisions.
We are not perfect people, but we are role models. Choose to make your actions good examples to your children.