Tell Yourself Today – High Standards Will…

Sometimes….loving members of your family have massive failures.

Like mine!

Take yesterday.  Yesterday, I decided to stay firm with the New and Improved Barbara Ling and instead of focusing my entire day on getting Max Your Holiday Profits out, I spent a good portion of the afternoon with HD2, HS1 and HS2.

Took 'em all to Michaels for Halloween Costume goodies!

Then took 'em to the Dollar Store, and then realized…

If I didn't get to sleep soon, I'd fall asleep on my keyboard.

So I made certain to tell the boys,

"Okay, I have to sleep by 7pm because I need to wake myself up by 1am to get my product out, so please keep it down, okay?"

6:30pm arrived; my husband happily agreed to take my eldest, HD1, to swords class so I could collapse in a heap.

Cue 7pm….and HS1 and HS2 got a bit….rambunctious…. with their video game playing.

First, I quietly sent HD2 a text asking her to tell the boys to keep it down.

There was 39 seconds of blissful silence!

And then the 2012 Superbowl erupted in the boys' office once more.

Happy.

I was *not*.

I donned on my MamaBear-with-PMS persona, stalked to their office and read them a  more ferocious riot act than El Cid flinging bread in medieval Spain.

Then I went back to my room and 45 minutes later, finally fell asleep.

But here's the coolio thing!

After HD1 came home from sword class, HD2 filled her in on what her brothers had done.  And she proactively went over to my sons and told them in no unmistakable words just how thoughtless and selfish their actions were.

Woot!

Then HD1 and HD2 drew me a cartoon that, when I saw it this morning, had me laughing in stitches.

Which brings me to the point of this post.

I never *told* HD1 and HD2 to look out for me like that.

I never told them to proactively educate their brothers.

They did so…on their own beliefs of what was *right* to do.

And guess who raised them that way?

Guess who held them to such high standards and was *never* their friend, but *always* their parent?

Yep.  Me.

See, it's like this.

It is *really* tough sometimes holding your kids and friends to high standards.

But wow oh wow…when it comes together…it's ever so worthwhile!!

Thus, tell yourself today that you will hold your kids and your friends to the same high standards that you yourself show.

It might be painful, it might be tough…but….

WOW.

The results are ever so worth it!

Grow strong,

Barbara Ling

ps – speaking about high standards, have you seen: