THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 1, 1994 TAG: 9410010030
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Religion
SOURCE: Betsy Wright
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
LAST WEEK'S article about ``teachable moments'' really hit a chord with several readers. Here are a few of the responses.
From Lois Smith of Chesapeake: ``When I read your article about `teachable moments,' tears came to my eyes, . . . but I just couldn't think of one specific incident of a `teachable moment.'
``Later that evening my daughter came in and asked me again about shaving her legs. My husband and I explained to her that the sooner you shave your legs, the sooner it becomes one of those things in life you have to do all the time, and you get tired of it. I told her that we would talk about it again in the spring.
``Anyway, her cousin called her that evening . . . (and confided) that she had already shaved her legs behind her mother's back. My daughter said (to us later), `That's what I'm going to do if you won't let me shave my legs.'
``Well, here it came: my `teachable moment.'
``I told my daughter, `Yes, you can do things behind your parents' backs and yes, sometimes you'll get away with it. (But you'll also get caught sometimes.) And then your parents lose the trust they have in you. When you want to go off and you say you're going here or there with so-and-so, then your parents won't believe what you say. You will have to earn back the trust. It makes it harder on you to do the things in life that you may want to do because you are not trusted.'
``Boy, I could not believe it. She understood . . . and I haven't heard her ask again about shaving her legs.
``I'm sure we all have `teachable moments' but a lot of the times they come so naturally and so easily that they just seem insignificant. Your article made me realize that `teachable moments' are very, very important in life.''
From Jenny Jones of Chesapeake: ``My `teachable moment' came not from my parents, but from an older sister. Early in my senior year of high school, my sister, Liz, became pregnant. She and her husband had been married for eight years and this was the first grandchild on both sides, so everyone was very excited. Liz carried the baby full term . . . but the child was still-born.
``(Months later) Liz came to visit. I remember clearly standing next to her in my parents' kitchen and asking for any advice she could give to her little sister as I got ready to go away to college. Liz looked me straight in the eye and said, `Don't do any drugs, because if your baby dies like my baby died, you'll spend your whole life wondering if you caused it.'
``She went on to explain that she was glad she did not have those concerns; however, you can be assured that I didn't experiment at all with anything! Talk about scared straight!
``P.S. Liz went on to have three healthy boys, now 15, 13 and 10.''
From Pamela Kiernan of Norfolk: ``I had a `teachable moment' from my daughter. I was trying to convince her she did not need a little brother or sister. I told her I was so lucky because I had the very best baby the first time. She looked at me and said, `No Mom. Mary's baby is better.'
``I looked at her and I thought, `Who is this Mary? Who's baby is better than mine?', so I said to my daughter, `Mary who?'
``She said, `Jesus's Mom.' ''
Larkspur Middle School teacher Les Fortune sent in some responses from his Virginia Beach reading students. All were wonderful, but due to space, I have room for only three.
From Jason Spencer, seventh-grader: ``The special thing my parents taught me is how to believe in God. The reason why I think this is so special is if it were not for God, we would not be living. It feels good to know you have someone watching over you.''
From Paul McPherson, seventh-grader: ``One special thing my parents taught me to do is to be a Christian and to go to church. It is important because if they hadn't, I might get into trouble and probably die before my time. And the reward for being a Christian is that when you die you will go to heaven.''
From Rochelle Reilly, seventh-grader: ``Something special my parents taught me is making my own decisions. If they hadn't, I would be lost in life. I could not decide which church to go to, who I should be friends with or even how to say what it is I want. I will never forget that they gave me this special gift.'' by CNB