Sure I’d Love To!

“Seriously, this is a song for kids?” Yep! One of my favorites, and I wrote it! Actually, I wrote all the songs on Best Buddies CD #1...and #2...and #3! Guess you could say we had daily practical challenges at our house. 

These are the lyrics. Imagine your children actually saying these words when asked to do something:
 
SURE I’D LOVE TO
SURE I’D LOVE TO
IT’S ONLY FAIR I DO MY SHARE
SO SURE I’D LOVE TO!
SURE I’D LOVE TO
SURE I’D LOVE TO
WHATEVER YOU NEED
THAT’S WHAT I WILL DO!
WHATEVER YOU ASK MY ANSWER TO YOU IS
SURE! SURE! SURE! SURE……..
 I’D LOVE TO!!

This particular song is also called “Daralyn’s song” in our family. Daralyn was a young lady from Oregon who lived with us for two years. She helped me with our children, and whenever we asked her to do anything, she had one response: “SURE, I’D LOVE TO!”. Wow! For a songwriter… that is called INSPIRATION !

If serving is indeed the mark of greatness, then teaching our children to verbalize a willingness to help when asked is truly crucial. It was important enough in our family to write a song about it, and we sang it throughout our kids’ childhoods!

My husband is writing a book entitled “10 Ways to Cripple Your Children” and as a football coach (on a high school and college level) he tags a bad attitude as the #1 shortcut to the “back of the line”. If we want our children to have favor with their teachers, coaches, and even friends, we move them to the “front of the line” by distinguishing them as hard workers, with a good attitude!

When your child is genuinely excited to help (and especially to look the person talking to them in the eye and answer clearly), your child has  successfully gotten their coach or teacher’s full attention!! 

I think it’s really about FAMILY HABITS. Kids easily embrace a fun “script” or routine to do together. After asking them to DO something, like getting me a diaper from the other room (spoken like a mother of 7, right?), I would ask, “What do we say?” And they would have fun, saying it together, sometimes silly, or dramatically, or just loud and proud! 

When a parent decides to make a specific  response part of their family culture, it is easier to be consistent.  I remember “rehearsing” this particular line again & again with the kids throughout the day for any appropriate opportunity.  We made it fun! It wasn’t heavy handed or negative on any level. And interestingly, it seem to give them a “win” and satisfaction. 

Of course, sometimes it was more like a mindless learned phrase they were repeating so they could just move on to whatever they were doing. But that’s okay, because It’s really about having a meaningful response that becomes natural and automatic. It becomes a habit with purpose & value. 

The fact is as parents we can intentionally create favor and leadership in our children’s lives by choosing for them,  and instilling in them, appropriate responses to life’s opportunities. If a child’s personality is formed by 5 years of age (according to many studies) how important are the early formative years in effectively molding our little people into healthy, happy, energetic, leaders. And great leaders first learn to serve well.

The key for us as parents to remember is so basic and crucial: HOME IS WHERE OUR CHILDREN LEARN THE FUNDAMENTALS OF HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS, OTHER-CENTEREDNESS, RESPECT, OBEDIENCE AND SELF CONTROL. As parents, we can create a loving, safe  atmosphere as we model, celebrate and reward positive responses to daily family challenges and interaction. 

BE ENCOURAGED! Working together to maintain order and develop a family culture of serving one another really is possible. It takes strategy, focus, intentionality and patience, But it pays off! Your children will thank you someday for giving them the incredible advantage in life of knowing how to respond to authority, cooperate with others , and most of all, have a positive, helpful attitude!

Remember, every family has a culture. May we all seize the seasons of life as a time to grow as a family, and exemplify to one another, and to our world, the joy of serving! ❤️

Never Give Up!

DeAnza Duron

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