Is there an instruction manual regarding fair?

I wrote last week about feelings being neither right nor wrong and that we really cannot tell someone how to feel. This week we had to deal with our son and an issue on the playground because he didn’t think someone was being fair. I think all of this in life encounter this at one time or another, and maybe sometimes we don’t feel anything is fair. We had to have a talk with him on what is right and wrong and that sometimes even if you think you are right it is a better idea to walk away then to press about him needing to be right because he feels he is right! Even if he is sticking up for someone else in a situation that may not really involve him, he wants it to be fair for the other person. Who determines fair?

We had to tell him that just like feelings are neither right nor wrong… they are your feelings… every one’s perception of what is right or wrong or fair may not be the same. Not everyone can be right all the time, not everyone is the winner. In this society we have grown accustom to everyone getting a trophy for participating… especially with the younger kids. “It is only fair that they all have done a good job.” In my opinion it gives kids the wrong impression that life will be fair, and everyone is a winner for trying… which as we get older, we know isn’t true. In life, in the job field when you are up for a promotion or a spot on a competitive team, it is definitely a flight or fight- who is the best qualified, who works the hardest and honestly sometimes winning is a popularity contest and has nothing to do with skill at all! Heck even in sporting events there is only one team that wins- not both can win, even if they both played their absolute best there is only one winner. Yet we tell them if they do their best that is all that matters, kids, especially boys, can be competitive and want to win in their own mind they want to look favorable to their friends and get picked and want to be a part of the group and look good enough to be included. Not everyone can be first pick and not everyone makes the right call. Look at the NFL or MLB or any other professional sport out there. They have officials sitting in some room somewhere waiting to review calls that are challenged.  Their egos at a young age drive them to be right, to fit in and to want to be the best. This will carry over into adulthood as those of us who are seasoned in life already know is coming.

This young age of 8-12 is where these kids see other kids excel at certain things and they wonder why they don’t. They see what they lack and not what their strengths are that the other person doesn’t have. We often carry that into adulthood where we become jealous to the point, we start bad mouthing our inability to perform like the other person or we are so upset that we can't be like that person our anger just turns to plain meanness. Who knows what goes on inside our head as a kid, but I know when my kid starts to call himself dumb because someone else is better than him or when he makes a mistake that he is feeling inferior and cannot see that he excels in other areas of his life that those boys might wish they did? Humans tend to want what they don’t have- curly hair instead of straight, blue eyes instead of brown, body parts like someone else, musical ability instead of sports, be able to assemble something rather than be book smart and vice versa. If we could all just accept the talents we are given and roll with it, verses wasting time trying to be what we are not- the world would fit together a lot better. But we are broken, and we constantly strive to compete not because we want to necessarily be better than the next person, but we want to be as good as they are at something we may not be suppose to!

How do I teach my kid to walk away from a challenge or an argument in such a competitive world, without making him seem like he is backing down or giving in or giving up on his beliefs or idea of what is right or fair? Yes, that I haven’t figured out just yet. He didn’t come with an instruction manual and not all people are created equally in the way the perceive, feel, value or need to be treated in order to react in a certain way. The instruction manual is written daily, based on what works and what doesn’t and has quite a few cross outs and eraser marks along the way.
Teach your kids to try and do the right thing whatever that maybe in their mind, that there are times to stand up for what you believe in and times when it is worth just letting the other person think they are right and letting go or stop trying to convince them that you are. It is a tough road and these judgments are based off experience, age, knowledge and each person’s perception. This is definitely why the world is broken- not everyone thinks the same. Unfortunately, we are not in control of our child’s thoughts… all we can do as a parent is try hard every day to be a good example to them. Their little minds absorb everything they see and hear, and parents are the most influential model most of the time for them. I know I won’t be a perfect example, but I can try hard to be a good one.

Proverbs 22:1 A good reputation is more desirable than great wealth, and favorable acceptance more than silver and gold.