something for parents to think about

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
drayman

drayman

Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2007
Messages
676
Location
barnsley
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 earn 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 earn an hour?'

DAD: 'If you must know, I earn £20 an hour.'

SON: 'Oh,' the little boy replied, with his head down.

SON: 'Daddy, may I please borrow £10 ?'

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 don't work hard everyday for such childish frivolities.'

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 ask 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 and he really didn'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 daddy, 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 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 money.

The man saw that the boy already had money, 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 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.

It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that £20 worth of your time with someone you love.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of hours. But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
I've read this before, but did again, and I still catch my breath. I have been in retail all my life, working until 9, 10 oclock at night. I have missed many of those moments with my kids, band concerts, plays. etc. I went to school to be a teacher, if only I had read this many years ago and gotten the message. I Stayed in retail because the money was better than teaching, but the trade off was a loss money cant buy back.
 
I've read this before, but it always puts a lump in the throat whenever I read it.
When I was raising my son, my average work day was about 14 hours... I opened the doors at 7 am and locked them late at night. But I missed time with my dad when I was growing up and was determined not to let my little boy miss time with me. I made it plain to the companies I worked for if they made me choose between my kid and the job, well I could always find another job. I made all of his swim meets, his soccer games and what ever his activity was. Sometimes, I had to take time off and then go back to the office afterwards, and when he was really young, sometimes he had to go too.

They are only young once and we need to make sure we don't miss that time. It will never come again.
 
All I can say is AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hits the nail on the head. In the corporate world all you are is just a number but at home you are number one. This whole society needs to slow down and smell the roses. Life is way to short and when we lose loved ones our eyes are opened. We need to remember this.
 
Dave and I don't have children at home anymore. They are both in their 20's and fine young men. But we still have eachother. Over the last 3 months I have been working 50 to 60 hours a week on salary, so the pay doesn't changed but have been looking into other jobs that would benefit us and validate me personally. The one that I really wanted was for a county 911 dispatcher. I could handle the stress of the job, but after finding out the extreme swing shift that was not just probable but expected-to get more than 9.00 dollars an hour, I had to bail. With 5-12 hour shifts a week and then being expected to cover other dispatcher's shifts in order to get a raise...with perhaps not going home for a few days and just taking a bag of clothes to work with me and sleeping on a cot....I was not willing to be an absent partner in this marraige. So I have chosen to work for a unionized company that only pulls 5-8 hr shifts, family insurance for 14 dollars a month and gives 2 wks and 4 days vacation that I can start taking as of January 1st, 09. I am going to start my new adventure on November 3rd and am going to enjoy going to work, doing my job and leaving my job there and coming home to the most wonderful man God could have ever blessed me with. No more coming home stressed, carrying that monkey on my back 24/7. When I'm home...all of me will be home, as it should be.

And in light of the 9th anniversary of the day Dave and I met....(yes we still celebrate it because our wedding anniversary only comes along once every 4 yrs on Febuary 29th) I want to say Happy Anniversary alittle early to my wonderful husband Dave, whom I love more than air to breath.

Thank you for listening.
 
To have the mind of a child and see things so much clearer then we do as an adult. The simple things of life for them are sometimes the most difficult for us with how busy we are.
 
Think of the Harry Chapin Song.... "The cat's in the cradle and the silver moon" "when you comin home dad?" "I don't know son, but we'll get together then". "His smile never dipped it's head." "I'm gonna be like him, you know I'm gonna be like dad."


Remember the zinger at the end...... "As I hung up the phone it occurred to me, my son was just like me. My boy was just like me...."
 
makes you rethink the priorities. Families first; job second. The "Corporate" world seems to never understand that. I have just spent 5 days at a convention with my company; and to see parents with thier children welcomed at the convention makes me feel like I may have finally found a company that values family.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom