Pay Attention!

We tell our kids all the time to pay attention, don't we? We want them to focus on one thing and do what they're supposed to and pay attention. Instead, their thoughts drift, their minds wander and their attention is diverted by a myriad of things. This morning, we're walking out the door to church and I look at my child and ask where her coat is. She says she forgot. So I tell her to go and get it. She does. Then, I ask where her shoes are. She doesn't know. She's only got one and thinks the dog stole the other. Okay, go look for it. She comes back with no shoe, but she has a bracelet she found on the dining room table. How did you see the bracelet if you were looking for your shoe? Well, I was looking under the table for my shoe and then I saw the bracelet. Well, where is your shoe? I don't know. Okay, let's go find it. So, we walk up the steps. She stops to look in the mirror. She stops to fiddle with something in the living room. She finds the shoe. Then she's got to get socks. I just don't get it. You know you need to get dressed. You know all the steps. You know what is required and you know what articles of clothing you need. Why does it take so long? Because you lack any sort of focus and pay no attention to the things you are supposed to do. You will pay all your attention to things that mean very little and spend time doing absolutely nothing. I'm so not a fan of the ADD diagnosis. I think it's ridiculous to say a child has a disorder because they can't focus on one thing. Are you kidding? Do you know a kid who would rather focus on a math problem than on a video game or something equally entertaining? Kids can't focus. There are way too many things going on in the world for a child to focus. There's a spider on the ceiling. There's a new Power Rangers commercial on. There's a cookie hidden somewhere in the pantry. There's just too much to expect a child to pay attention to the boring stuff in life. Oh, and let's not forget to practice what we preach. Do you pay enough attention to your child? Sure, sometimes you'd rather pay attention to Facebook or Dr. Phil or folding the laundry, but are you missing a valuable opportunity. When you ignore your child saying "Mom" five thousand times while you're standing on line in Target reading a magazine or checking your texts, don't expect that kid to jump to it when you call his name. Dads should especially pay attention to their kids. Sit with them for 15 minutes while they do their homework - and actually watch what they do. Talk to them at dinner about their day. Listen and pay attention. Because if you don't, someone else will - and you might not be too happy with that person. What if it's the wrong kind of person, or TV show or drug or computer pal that captures your child's attention? You can control what you give your attention to. If you let the wrong things capture your attention, you've got to do something to take your focus off the bad and put it on the good.