Give them roots and wings

Recently, I started a campaign.  It is to encourage people to pick up litter.

When I shared this idea with a friend, she said :”In the first place, don’t litter”.

My children often react the same way when I ask them to help clean up the house.  They would say :-

“I didn’t make the mess!”

“It was xxx who played with it…”

“Not fair, why he does not need to do it, I need to do it…”

The most grievous of all is this:-

“Ask Aunty to do it, she is paid for it”

Yes, we want to teach the children personal responsibilities – to clean up after their own mess.  But we also want to teach our children to love others, and that includes sometimes having to clean up other people’s mess. As a parent, I expect my children to do their part in keeping the house clean, whether they made the mess or not, because there are times when other people (mostly mummy) clean up the mess they made.

In that case, my reply to my friend was this :”There will always be people who will litter.  What can help, is for people who do not litter, to just do a that little bit more, and pick up litter”.

So I decided to start a Topic “Going the extra mile”.  It is a call for us to go the extra mile.  To do that little bit more.  Not just to clean up any mess that other people made, but to help them along, or simply to make this world a better place.

What this means, is not just for us to give up up our seat to those who need it, but to ask others to give up their seats.  It is not just teaching our children not to eat in MRT, but to approach people who are eating and ask them (nicely) to stop eating.  It is not just coaching our own children in their school work, but to coach their classmates as well.

It is going beyond our comfort zone, and doing that extra bit more.

Do you have a story to share about “Going the extra mile?’  I would love to hear from you, and let’s link up!