Declining for good

I love that my seven-year-old son asks me to draw things. Sometimes he will ask me to draw something from his imagination. Sometimes he will ask me to copy a comic from the newspaper. It’s fun to take on these challenges.

But sometimes, I say, “No.” On occasion, I’ll say, “No, buddy. You can draw that. I know you can do it.”

And after some consideration (and gentle fatherly urging) he ends up giving it a try.

More often than not, he’s really proud of what he comes up with.

I still like to draw for him, but it’s even better when he draws for himself. And better still when we make time to draw together.

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There are times when the generous thing to do is to help not by doing, but by encouraging.

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