So Much for Teaching

I do not always see what needs to be done.

I once read a page in my mom’s journal
From my preschool years:
I had bent and picked up
A piece of paper on the floor
Rather than stepping over it.
That was progress worth writing about.

As a parent, I want my children
To be alert, helpful, seeing a need and satisfying it.
But how to teach what I don’t practice myself?

I don’t know.

What I do know that a guest was grabbing books
From a high shelf,
Precariously balanced on our chair.

A son brought over the step stool.
“Do you use this to get books off the top shelf?”
Asked the guest.

“Oh, yes,” said my son. “I brought this for you,
So you can use it. If you’d like.”

I can’t take credit for that.
True confession: I had noticed the precarious balance,
And it didn’t register enough for me to find the step stool.

I am thankful the Holy Spirit teaches, too.