For Working Parents

I received this email just recently. I am sharing this with fellow mommies and daddies especially those who are working. May we never forget that family is more important than work. Although we cannot leave work to spend more time with our children, there are countless other ways on how we can have quality with them.

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"
DAD: "Yeah sure, what it is?" replied the man.

SON: "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily.

SON: "I just want to know.. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour."
SON: "Oh," the little boy replied, with his head down.

SON: "Daddy, may I please borrow $10.00 ?"

The father was furious, "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he asked such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.00 and he really doesn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door. "Are you asleep, son?" He asked. "No, dad, I'm awake," replied the boy.

"I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier" said the man. "It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $10.00 you asked for." The little boy sat straight up, smiling. "Oh, thank you daddy!" He yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, and started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money and then looked up at his father.

"Why do you want more money if you already have some?" the father grumbled. "Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.

"Daddy, I have $20.00 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you." The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.

Our kids grow taller and wiser every single day. Let us not let precious time pass by without hugging them and telling them how much we love them. Even a simple dinner with the family or a bed time story at night will do. You know how kids are, they have simple joys but these simple joys tend to be the ones that leave a mark in their hearts.