Beware - Wet Cement!

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Beware - Wet Cement!

Have you ever tried to write something on a sidewalk when the cement was still soft? It's almost effortless. Even the smallest marking leaves an enduring impression. The same is true with our children...

Topics:

Parenting; Parenthood, Childhood; Children

Have you ever tried to write something on a sidewalk when the cement was still soft?

It's almost effortless. Even the smallest marking leaves an enduring impression.

The same is true with our children...

By Chana Weisberg

Chana Weisberg is the editor of TheJewishWoman.org. She lectures internationally on issues relating to women, relationships, meaning, self-esteem and the Jewish soul. She is the author of six books. Her latest book, Shabbat Delights, is a two-volume series on the weekly Torah portion.

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3 Comments

Harold Braunstein Brooklyn, NY via chabadmanhattanbeach.com February 5, 2010

Wet Cement Excellent analogy, Chana. Two nights ago we went to see the revival of "South Pacific" (Lincoln Center) where one song says the same thing...

You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taugh

***********************
Chana's wet cement says the same thing in a more general sense. Thank you, Chana. Reply

ruth housman marshfield hills, ma February 4, 2010

clay in our hands This is beautiful. I am finding so many of these articles and commentaries to be so wonderful. The metaphor is so true and it's one I will repeat as a therapist and to others. I work with clay and do ceramics. Yes, when the clay is soft, the imprint is so easy to make, and surely with children, we must be careful, because we have such power, and we need to think carefully what we say, how we say it, and always to do it with love. I know we do not forget and that children are so especially sensitive to what' said, how it is said, and it does impact them, deeply. We need each other. We knead each other. Reply

Esther Dukesz February 4, 2010

You are absolutely right.
Well said, excellently thought out Reply

Beware - Wet Cement!

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