Realizing I made the same sound to say many things was one of my first memories; I cried to say; I’m hungry, hurt, wet, lonely, sad, board, or angry. My second observation is this simplistic communication made my parents hop to but also distressed them.
As a toddler I decided to discipline myself as a gift to them by taking several steps, each of great effort to me:
- I Identified my need or want
- Formed words to define the problem
- Took personal responsibility by not putting fault on my parents
I sacrificed my manipulation, trading it for being beholden to them.
- I decided not control of their time by attending to me by going down a list of possible needs
- I gave up the emotional joy of watching them try to please me knowing that waiting on me meant they loved me
- I was willingly lived with the result that they sometimes said ‘no’ to my requests
- I gave up demanding and manipulating to get results. I put myself in a delicate position of being thankful to them
Self discipline, personal insight, and sacrifice are in babies of our culture before we can even speak well. And it seems to me I’m still learning these same lessons. nancymauerman.com