The Mindful Parent in Action

Today in the grocery store I observed the most wonderful father shopping with his 3 young children. I will guess the kid’s ages were between 6 – 11 years old.

The Dad, a large man with broad shoulders and thick arms stood with his smallest daughter by the bread rack. When she pulled a loaf of bread off the rack he asked her to read the ingredients before putting the bread into their cart. When she began to read he bent over looking a bit awkward for his massive size and listened attentively. When she finished they discussed the ingredients and with collaborative approval decided to put the loaf of bread in their cart. A few moments later, his son teased his sister that was his size. It was hard to tell who was older, or perhaps they were twins. The Dad intervened on his son’s behavior by politely telling the boy he needed to apologize to his sister. The boy did. No complaint. Then the Dad explained to his son, “Now you need to show your sister some affection to make up for not being nice to her.” The boy gave his sister a hug. All was resolved and the brood moved on to the next isle.

As I was pulling out of my parking spot this family was just leaving the store. Each of them carried a grocery bag and each of the kids walked close to their Dad. They were all talking and smiling and going on with their day, together.

My heart sang with joy at this beautiful scene of mutual respect, love and connection. You don’t have to know about mindful parenting to be a natural at it.