Over Christmas break I read an interesting article about toothpaste in reference to how it’s similar to words. Words are like toothpaste, once you squeeze it out, it can’t go back in! The article was about a mother’s way of teaching her middle school daughter about kindness, and how much of an impact your words can have on someone. The experiment the mother conducted was having her daughter squeeze out an entire tube of toothpaste onto a plate and then asked her to put it back in. Her daughter said “But I can’t” and told her mother, “It won’t be like it was before”. The mother then explained, that’s my point, words and actions can have a life or death impact, so it’s important to think before you say something or do something that may hurt yourself or someone else. The mother also pointed out that positive words and actions, can have the opposite effect to help “heal, encourage, inspire, and love others.”
This is an important lesson for children of all ages, especially middle school, which tends to be the most difficult three years for most kids as they are trying to figure out who they are and where they fit in. Overall, I felt this was a great reminder of how much weight words hold and how they can shape someone’s life both in a good way as well as bad way. As an adult I’m sure there are parts of your life that have been impacted by other peoples’ positive or negative words, and you have probably impacted others lives with your words.
So, every morning when you’re squeezing toothpaste onto your toothbrush, think about your day and how you are going to use your words to positively impact others lives and teach your children to do the same.
Here is the link for the article on Parents.com