You can find serenity in teaching your children that life goes on after a tragedy. This article is part of a series devoted to sharing lessons I learned and am teaching my children. These lessons are good tips for both children and adults. Previous articles dealt with teaching our children it’s okay to fail, get all you can and can all you get, be a friend to yourself, and don’t get ready, stay ready. Today the final post of the of the series is on the topic, “one monkey don’t stop no show.”
I know it is a crazy expression. It is one of the few things I got from my father, the notion that “one monkey don’t stop no show.” It is a memorable expression and once you say it a time or two you may find it gets stuck in your head. I know whenever my children hear the first part, they immediately chime in with the second. It means, if one thing doesn’t work out the way you want, keep going, it is not the end of the world.
Grown ups are used to hearing thing like, “If your Plan A doesn’t work, don’t worry there are 25 more letters in the alphabet.” Or you may be familiar with the expression, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again.” Either way, the sentiment is the same. One mistake, one problem, one misstep shouldn’t derail all your plans.
I taught my kids this expression when they were little because I thought it was something funny they would be able to remember and it got the idea across that just because one thing goes wrong, the world does not end, you can keep going, you can accomplish your mission. It is an easy to visualize way to share the lesson with children.
[Tweet “One monkey don’t stop no show, so get up and keep moving forward.”]
In conclusion,some of the best lessons we learn in life are the ones we learn as children and continue to follow throughout our lives. So, the question for you this serene day is, what lessons did you learn as a child that you still use today?