There are many ways to tie shoelaces. The bunny ear technique, the circle technique, and the magic fingers (which I’ve never heard of) technique. This post, however, is not about tying shoes it’s about a father’s patience while teaching his son how to tie his shoes.
Those of you who have read my posts in the past know that the twins are now 10 years old! I haven’t blogged in a while (life totally gets in the way) and time is flying by. Leah and Myles are headed to 5th grade and Erick is headed to his first year of high school (so not ready).
Back to the subject at hand, the art of tying shoes can be difficult for some and a breeze for others. Myles ‘knows’ how to tie his shoes but they ALWAYS untie. Over the weekend we attended a BBQ and my husband observed how many times Myles had to stop to retie his shoe. He didn’t say anything to him and didn’t help him tie them so they stayed tied. When we got home hubby called Myles to our room with a step stool and told him to bring his sneaker. Then began the ultimate Daddy lesson on tying shoes. Now I won’t go point by point on the method my husband chose to teach Myles I’ll simply say my husband has the patience of Job. The television was on and Myles was distracted so I turned it off. My husband went step by step, slowly, over and over again until Myles could do it all by himself. Now this lesson didn’t involve my husband just telling Myles what to do he SHOWED him.
As parents or leaders of all sorts, we shouldn’t just instruct but have interactive lessons. Don’t just tell people what to do but show them. Explain to them each step of the process and coach them through until they can do it with confidence on their own.
This morning when Myles got dressed I witnessed him tie his sneaker with confidence. He took his time, followed the steps and tied his sneaker with the techniques his dad provided him. He has a life lesson that he will never forget.
Until next time,
MUAH!!!
MrsDeveter 