Valuable Life Lesson and My Boys At Their Best

I've been reading a lot lately.  In fact, not books borrowed at my local library, not my textbooks (although yes, Mother, I do read those too) but books I've purchased with my own money, at my own free will, at Barnes and Noble (anyone probably reading this knows I do not typically read, and most certainly could find better things to spend money on then a book).  A few books were ones that my sister recommended to me and one in particular that I found just randomly by the name of "Boys Should Be Boys" by Meg Meeker M.D.  I'll save the book itself for another post because it was one of the best parenting books I've ever read (ok, you're right, I've only read a handful of them) but one thing that totally stuck out to me was to "not tell your child they are the BEST but to tell your child to be his/her best they can be."  I read it and then sitting in church Sunday the Pastor related a story to it as well so it just keeps sticking out in my mind. 

It's so easy to say "Oh Hunter, you are the best baseball player out there."  You would think this would be a good self esteem booster, but it's not.  It's not teaching him anything.  It's telling him he's the best baseball player when he's not.  It's in all reality lying to him.  I often find myself saying "Wow Konnor, you are the best speller on the planet" b/c I want him to think he's the best.  He's not.  He's a great speller, Hunter's a great baseball player, and Quinn really is the best at being cute - but in all reality, again, they aren't the best.  I'm lying to them.  They are the best in my eyes, but they aren't the best.

I'm not the best Mom in the world, but I'm the best Mom I know how to be.  I'm not the best student in the world (probably one of the worst) but I'm the best student I know how to be.  I'm not the best friend in the world but I am the best friend I know how to be.  I'm not the best daughter in the world unless you're my sisters reading this, then I am,  but I strive to be the best daughter I know how to be.  I'm far from the best runner in the world but I run as best as I possibly can. 

Let's face it - most of us probably will never be the best at anything, but we all are truly capable of  being the best of whatever it is we know how to be the best of.