048 – The Kids are Sick of the Sick

Deagan channeling his inner superhero! He’s full of energy and creativity when he’s feeling well!

My only son Deagan had strep throat.  With his high fevers and discomfort, this required more and more of our attention.  It also meant allowing him to rest and relax while the other kids had to go about their regular day.

The other kids were not pleased. My oldest, especially, was totally jealous of all the attention he was receiving.  She made this clear by acting out.  I love how brutally honest kids are.  She was not happy about the situation and, plain as day, asked for what she wanted – more attention.

Adults have been trained to silence this in an effort to not be rude or impolite, sometimes to the extreme.  And it comes back years later to bite us in the ass in the form of hurt feelings, broken friendships, divorce, and an unfulfilling life. We can only be certain of one thing. Disaster will strike. It will require us to give our attention to it.  But we can’t lose sight of our main targets (self, spouse, kids, or money) because they will be hurting from our lack of focus.

How often do you connect with the most important people in your life? Are you meeting their needs? Are you expressing your needs?

Make a list of the most important people in your life and assign each a daily, weekly, or monthly designation to connect.  What small steps can you do to make sure that, even during a crisis, that you can show those people you care?