Living above an organic grocery store provides for lots of fun opportunities. It’s more like a community of friends and friends of friends. A couple days ago one of the regulars decided to be generous and give away their newborn pups. A large picture was posted to the front window with a cute pile of pups held in their hands.
Obviously this cuteness overload didn’t go unnoticed by our kids who have been asking for pups for years. With some allergies in the family this has been a topic of many teachable, but difficult conversations.
“But these are free dad! We don’t even have to pay for them!” It made me wonder if the kids think I’m allergic of spending money, not the dogs itself. Well, free puppies don’t make me less allergic, but I guess it’s another reason to put the subject back on the agenda.
“Sure, give them a call,” I found myself saying before I realised it. Quickly adding that I gave them 2 reasons for me to encourage them to make the phone call:
– I want my kids to learn that if they want something in life they need to be proactive and pursue it beyond 100 ‘no’s’ – even if the ‘no’ comes from me.
– I was clear with them that one of my main objectives was that I want them to learn to deal with disappointment. I was fully aware this may not turn out the way they’re hoping.
They took on the challenge. “Are you ready to be disappointed?” I asked them one more time to help them understand my reasons for giving them the go-ahead for the call. Yes, they were. So now they’re on the phone regularly with the owners of the cute puppies with regular updates and all kinds of plans about the next steps.
I have a hunch I’m camping out on the balcony in a few weeks. For the rest of my life.