Sometimes Just Do It Doesn’t Work

It’s interesting. I just finished reading an article about kids and food.The mom who wrote the article has a kiddo who won’t eat veggies. She had all these thoughts before she became a parent, no dino shaped nuggets, not being a short order cook etc, and now while in the midst of the journey finds she has had to change some of her expectations and actions…

But that’s not what this post is about… 🙂

As I’m sitting here reading this post I’m thinking to myself, just make him eat it.

Then I started to laugh at myself. I have a spirited kindergartner… who is an EXCELLENT eater (thank heaven). I don’t struggle to get her to eat veggies, in fact, I think she’d be a vegetarian if I’d let her.

So no, I don’t have that struggle. But I do have MANY other struggles with my kiddo, and I often find myself being given “advice” from people who don’t live in my house, have never had to deal with my kiddo and her temperament for more than an hour, and don’t really know what it’s like here.

And yet… I’m thinking, just make him eat it.

WTF.

It happens all over the place though, people who don’t struggle with something tend to think it’s easy for everyone and you can “just do it”, when in fact, that’s probably not the case or they WOULD have!!

It was just an interesting catch for me this morning. A reminder for when I am dealing with people, in my business, in my life, even with my kiddo… just because something’s easy for me doesn’t mean it’s easy for someone else, and the solution probably isn’t “just do it” because they most likely would have if they could have.

It begs for me to take some time to problem solve, to get creative, to try things that are unconventional to get them over the hump and around the problem.

I personally am a “just do it” kind of person. That’s how I push through problems, and things I’m scared of… but that’s my personality. It’s my temperament. It isn’t a one size fits all solution. If I’m going to help others get through their stuff ~ I’m going to have to approach it from their point of view.

So… here’s my suggestion, (to myself and maybe you too) when you see a poor Dad carrying a kicking and screaming kiddo out of the Walmart ~ be gentle. Don’t you think if he could “just make her stop” he would have? If you see someone struggling to pick up the phone to make their calls ~ be gentle. Don’t you think if they could have they would have? If you see someone trying to get their kiddo to eat their veggies ~ contain your disdain… don’t you think they’ve probably tried everything they know how to do?

Instead, let’s begin offering some compassion, and a shoulder to lean on. These people (and I know because some days  I AM one!) are probably near their wits end, and don’t need anymore judgement from us. My guess is they’ve got enough blame and judgement of their own to go around. Yours isn’t necessary.