As I was dropping off Cinco to school today, he commented about the upcoming Kite Festival on Saturday. He wanted to go. I asked him if he filled out his paper and turned it in, because I haven’t seen the thing since it came home months ago. They have to read every night for 15-20 minutes for three months to earn a kite. He told me he had turned it in. I asked him if he was honest and had really done it. To which he replied, “Yes, Mom! Don’t you trust me? I couldn’t live with myself if I lied. If I won an ipod or prize and didn’t earn it and lied about it, I would feel guilty. When I lie I feel guilt.”
Shocked is a good word for what I was feeling. Shocked because these are the values I want to be teaching them, hoping to be teaching them, but wondering if any thing ever sinks in or comes through.
Today was a good mom day. My boy has integrity, and that is something not many people have. How grateful I was feeling. And I thought, “guilt is a good thing. It should keep us doing what is right if we don’t push it aside.”
He’s a good kid and somehow, it makes me worry a lot less about him.