Kung Fu Philosophies

I never thought I'd be a mom that uses a TV in the car, but truthfully, I do. Traveling on our outings, the kids enjoy watching some of their favorite shows and it always seems to go in cycles. We'll usually have one DVD in for a few days at a time, starting and finishing in different spots of the show. The most recent DVD selection has been Kung Fu Panda, The Furious Five. I have never actually seen the movie (as I am driving during the showing) but I have heard it a few times. The premise is this: Jack Black's character, Po, gathers young students of the ancient art to talk with them about the "secrets" of Kung Fu. He shares stories of five Kung Fu masters, nicknamed the "Furious Five" and tells how each of them became the great masters they are. Each story expresses a quality that masters of Kung Fu should emulate: Patience, Courage, Compassion, Confidence and Discipline.

As we've driven around town, the kids have asked about each of these qualities and I've thrown in little remarks like, "Maybe you should have some COMPASSION toward your brother and help him with his seat belt?" Or "Sorry, we're not getting McDonalds, we're trying to be DISCIPLINED." Yesterday, I found that me and the little bunnies on the show were not the only one's learning from the "Dragon Warrior" and had another great parenting moment from our household optimist, Asher.

We sat down to dinner earlier than usual because the kids were starving. After picking Grayson up from school, we had a few errands to run, dropping off kids, delivering packages, and to the bank to deposit some checks. It took longer than I thought and by the time we got to the bank, it was 5:00, right in time for the evening rush. Grayson had not eaten anything since school and after offering my earlier response toward McDonalds, his cravings had yet to be satisfied. We sat in line at the bank drive through for much, much, longer than anticipated. The wait was so annoyingly long it was not just waring on my kids- I was frustrated too. After the deposits had finally been made, we bolted home and threw in some frozen pizza.

Sitting around the dinner table I asked the kids what their "best and worst" were for the day. (A tradition we have to tell each other what the best part and worst parts of our days were.)Grayson answered the latter part of the question first, "Well my worst was waiting forever in that huge line of cars at the dumb bank!" He furrowed his eyebrows and took a bite of pizza. Asher was quick to follow, "Ya, and my best was having PATIENCE while we waited in line at the bank." I chuckled. I guess we all see things differently.

Always grateful for the cute comments of my kids, I'll take a cue from them and work to have the COURAGE to do what's right, the CONFIDENCE to try new things, COMPASSION when I get upset, PATIENCE when I am frustrated and DISCIPLINE as I work toward my goals.