| Currently in Novosibirsk: |
 |
| Novosibirsk Webcams |
|
|
| Our visitors: |
|
|
| Quote of the day |
| Wednesday, January 31, 2007 |
Well it's not really a quote of the day, but it is a quote that I really really really like and often think about.
It's from the great UCLA basketball coach John Wooden. For those who don't know, he is generally regarded as the greatest basketball coach of all time. He won more NCAA championships than any coach ever (10, 7 of which were consecutive) and coach players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar among others. During that 7 year run on championships his teams won 205 games while only losing 5 (yes, 5 losses in 7 years). Anyway, the quote.
"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."
I think it's nice quote because I have a tendency to speak my mind. Unfortunately I often make the mistake of forgoing tact for truth (or at least my perception of truth) and that has the effect of people drawing conclusions as to who I am. And that's probably even more true here in the blog world since you only get snippets from someone in words that you then make conclusions about who they really are as a person.
I also like this quote because most I think seem to worry about the opposite. It appears that most people are actually concerned more about what someone else thinks of them then what they really are.
And this leads me to being out in public with a child.
Of course people make a living giving parents advice about how to help them raise a well behaved child. But even the most well behaved little one is eventually going to have an outburst. And often it's at a time and place that you as a parent would rather avoid.
Well I can't give advice about how to fix the behavior. After all I don't even have a kid yet to try out some of the stuff that I've read about. But I can give some advice about the environment. Don't worry about it. If your kid goes ballistic in the middle of the grocery store and everyone starts staring at you giving you those "What kind of parent are you?" looks, blow it off.
Who cares what these strangers think of you. For all you know that man who is upset with you for your kid screaming at the top of his lungs may be cheating on his wife. Is that really someone with whom you wish to have a good reputation from?
And here's another one. The airplane trip home. I'm hoping our little one will handle the trip okay and not be our little version of Damien. And we will do a bunch of things to help keep them calm during the trip. But in the event that they do become a major pain. Bummer. We're not going to be seeing any of the people on the flight again for the rest of our lives. If this is how they wish to view who we are (i.e., based on an umpteenth hour flight with us as new parents with a toddler) so be it.
That's not who we are. And whatever impression you have of me just by reading this blog is also probably wrong. Unless of course you think I'm just the most wonderful, most intelligent, discerning, perceptive, open-minded person you've ever met. Then of course you have me pinned. Oh, did I forget to mention modest? |
posted by Steveg @ 10:04 AM  |
|
| 2 Comments: |
-
When did you change your template? I like it! Thanks for your support.
-
Could not agree with you more. I think I remember telling you guys my attitude on the plane ride home. I remember thinking something along the lines of "this is my kid, we are all exhausted, he's crying and crapped all over himself - deal with it people!" We got a few stares from the business people (we were in biz class - ha ha ha) but you know what, I can honestly say I did not give a flying *&!@. Now, since coming home we've had a few public meltdowns from son and I just let it happen. It's usually over in about 2 minutes and then, peace. :)
|
| |
| << Home |
| |
|
|
|
| About Us |
|
Contributors:
Our Story:
I'm Steve and this is my wife Stefanie. This is our story, mostly seen through my eyes, of the journey to create our family by adopting a child from Russia.
|
| The Great Snowsuit Swap |
Donate your old snowsuits or other one time use items to other adoptive parents at:
|
| Previous Post |
|
| Archives |
|
| Powered by |
Original template design by Isnaini Dot Com
|
| Thoughts |
"The two greatest obstacles to democracy in the United States are, first, the widespread delusion among the poor that we have a democracy, and second, the chronic terror among the rich, lest we get it."
Edward Dowling
|
|
When did you change your template? I like it! Thanks for your support.