Mending Fences in Families and Education

It seems like my nephews were in diapers just a few years ago, but they're all grown up now.  I often wonder what affect I've had on them.  A positive one, hopefully.  I always try to walk that fine line between having fun with kids and ensuring that I'm responsible and mature enough so that they feel secure.  I remember walking with one of my nephews when he was 5 or 6 and was already getting in trouble in kindergarten.  I observed his movements, how he used a stick to touch every fence board we passed, and paid close attention to his words.  I really wanted to know what he thought.  We talked about "following through" and being a "man of your words".  He got that.  I watched him stop at the end of a unique "fence" made of heavy chain and, without thinking, pick up a piece that had come apart, fiddle with it for a moment, and figure out how to re-connect it.  This child, who was in trouble at school, figured out something that some of my friends could not have fixed.  He fixed a stranger's fence without having to be asked.  He understood the concepts of honesty and integrity and the strengths that they build within a person.  We had fun that day and he learned some new concepts.  I learned that strong, intelligent children can't always fix the broken chains of the educational system, but they keep on trying.  If we would only listen and observe more and sit around in meetings less...