Parental Laugh
I have posted numerous times with reference to the phrase “Take a Step Back”, which I developed and practiced with my ADD coach Pete Quily. It is about developing the self awareness to realize that in the process of working, leisure, exercise or what ever I may be doing…… I have a breaking point. It is at that breaking point where people either succeed by understanding what their limitations are, or they fail because they are not aware of them. This is when we all have to recognize that place in time and, “Take a Step Back”.
Recently I was just doing my thing around the house with my kids. My son had a moment of frustration and decided he would have the classic temper tantrum we occasionally see in most 7 year olds. During his tantrum I felt myself become very frustrated as I wanted to deliver strong message about his poor conduct. It was at that moment I decided to “Take a Step Back”. After taking a deep breath, I calmly stared at my son as he cried and stomped his feet. I didn’t move, not even a blink of my eyes. I came to the realization that whether it was a temper tantrum by a child or an adult, it made the individual having the tantrum look pretty silly.
For some reason I started to smile realizing how silly my son looked in the midst of his tantrum. My smile soon turned into laughter. As I looked at my son, he struggled to maintain his tantrum and his chin and lower lip started to quiver as he tried not to laugh, cringing his brow and looking very seriously at me. He soon lost his battle and we were both laughing hysterically.
As our laughter subsided, he walked to me and gave me a hug telling me he loved me. We then calmly talked about his tantrum and I turned it into an opportunity to teach him about acting properly and communicating his feelings.
This turned out to be a great example of how we can all improve a situation when we “Take a Step Back”. The calmness and clarity achieved in any situation will lead to a positive result or at a minimum, avoid what could have been a digressive situation.