In Monday’s blog I told you how much I love french fries and told you about how I like to take my kids’ fries. Today I want to continue by telling you some of the great lessons I learn from those french fries moments with my kids that added so much value to my own journey in life. The following is an excerpt from my new book that is coming out Nov. 1^st: “Lord of The Fries”:

I was certain my kids weren’t just being selfish and wanted to share their fries with me. They just needed a better understanding of the situation and how this french fry thing works with their dad. They needed to know that I am the lord of the fries. In other words, my young children needed to understand first of all: I was the one who bought them their french fries. Their mom probably would’ve chosen something different had she been with us. They needed to understand if it weren’t for my choice and my ability to provide them with french fries they wouldn’t even have french fries to eat at the moment. I’m the one who allowed them to have any french fries whatsoever; I dictated this in their life at that point in time. In fact, I didn’t have to allow them to eat french fries.

Second, I was much bigger and if I wanted I could physically take their fries from them and eat them all; I didn’t have to share. There would be absolutely nothing they could do to stop me. After all I was a grown man, I outweighed them and was much stronger than they.

The third thing they needed to understand was I had resources beyond their understanding. In other words if I wanted I could go back to the counter and order my own fries. Actually I could bury them in french fries if I wanted. As small children they had no money; they were unable to walk up to the counter and purchase french fries with a credit card and they couldn’t even get to the fast food restaurant without me taking them there. Ultimately, I was the sole provider of their fries.

With all that in mind, had my children understood when I reached my hand across the table for a few of their fries, one would think they would be excited to share with their dad. I didn’t need or want their fries. What I really wanted was for them to simply, out of love and understanding, trust me with their fries. I wanted them to know I was their french fries provider and if I was going to take a few fries and if they didn’t have enough, they could trust me to provide more. I wanted them to be willing to share with me knowing how much I enjoyed the process of us sitting together sharing a meal with fries. My kids should have been grateful enough to willingly share with their dad without saying, “Those are my fries”.

You see I didn’t want to take all their fries, I just wanted a couple fries. I wanted them to be grateful, and understand I love them and I chose to allow them to eat french fries. I wanted them to share a few with me. More than just sharing them with me, I wanted them to want to share with me. Those few moments sitting in a restaurant eating french fries together was a special time for me.

Next Step

Tell me about your experience with your kids or when you were a kid and the lessons learned about sharing. Go to my Life Palette FaceBook post from today.

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