Knowing how important right timing is in accomplishing right actions.

When speaking of speak of my oldest son, I often jokingly refer to him as Thing 1…born on New Year’s Day, 1/1.

But…then there was Thing 2 who arrived years later on 2/22.  The year our second son was born we plotted a calendar of the two boys.  In January, they were Father Time & a New Year’s Baby.  In February they were Honest Abe & George Washington.  And in March they were “in like a lion and out like a lamb.”  Thing 2 was the lion!  Even as a baby, it is how he came into the world.

Thing 1 arrived a week late. Whereas, Thing 2, was 10 years late, but arrived 10 days before his due date… kicking into the world. He climbed over child gates, into and out of everything. I missed my opportunity for a patent when, to provide protection, I designed a latch for his car seat. He was only 15 months old, and I saw him in the rearview mirror, out of his seat. It is now standard on all child seats.  Apparently, he was not the only child who had to be taught caution!

We joked that we did not celebrate Thing 2’s birthdays. We celebrated that a year had passed and he had not killed himself. A year had passed and he had not killed us. And a year had passed that we did not kill him…as he skied backwards down the mountain, taunting his ski instructor with… “I can’t do…what?!”

As a special education teacher, and in the current climate of America, we teach students lockdown procedures. Inevitably, the junior high males, predominate composition of my classes, would pay no attention; they plotted their own counter attacks and felt quite invincible. Likewise, we know that teen boys compromise a group in car insurance dynamics that is required to pay double any other demographic. Why?  The difference between teen boys and all other ages and genders is blocked inhibitors.  As part of the typical development of males, it means that their body is chemically, neurologically and psychologically blocked from processing the information necessary to be CAUTIOUS.

Look before you leap.  Cautiousness implies the exercise of forethought usually prompted by fear of danger.  Rashness means acting too hastily or without due consideration of the consequences.  What looks good now might not be the best option in the long run.

A cautious person recognizes failure is most possible when it is least expected. Never lull yourself into feeling invulnerable, like a teen boy is prone to be. Successful parenting means teaching them to develop a healthy skepticism of their impressions and to look for wise counsel.

Test theories so that you can choose the right words and actions at the right time.

Whether coaching soccer, teaching, leading Boy Scouts, or raising my sons instructing them to be cautious meant they learned the mantra:

I WILL…

• think before I act.
• follow safety rules.
• ask permission.
• talk at the right time.
• look out for danger.
• Be wary, prudent, watchful, and discreet