Sitting on the Couch

Thoughts have flooded my head lately of days, of months, of years gone by and what I may have lost. My one dream was to have a very close knit family with all the love and compassion wrapped tightly around each person's heart. We raised our children to be loving, compassionate and respectful of each other's lives. In my family of origin, this was not practiced so both Papa Benchly and I were in agreement to practice these three messages to our children. It was not hard teaching our children these lessons and they were great learners. Yes, they had their fights and squabbles but in the end, they still loved each other and respected each other. It showed daily. I remember we would sit the two or sometimes three children on the living room couch when arguments broke out. It was their responsibility to figure out how to solve the conflict and to get on with their play. Normally, it took them only minutes to resolve the situation. Sometimes, it took a bit longer but in time, you knew the problem was solved when laughter was heard from the next room. That was always the sign for us to re-enter the living room and find out how they reached the solution. It was great to see our children growing in love, compassion and respect. Or as they say now......."we just wanted to get on with playing."

Times have changed and children are grown. Now when these grown children have arguments, I wish that they would come back to the "sitting on the couch" remedy. One talks about the other not listening, the other wants to live their own life and not be judged, the other wants all to just get along. All I want is for these three children to love each other, have compassion for each other dreams and wishes and to respect each other's way of life. It's not hard to do.

Lately, I've pondered the idea of sitting the two that are arguing on our couch and making them stay there until this problem is resolved. Just the two........no spouses, no parents, nobody but those two. Intervention maybe but in my eyes, getting these young adults to realize how lucky they are to have each other would be a reward to the whole family. We were a very close family and that is all I pray for now. They have to solve this conflict on their own but I pray that it will be sooner than later.