The kids were playing nicely, when suddenly the youngest started to howl. Apparently, the elder brother had hit him.

“Hey, what happened?” I queried.

“Dad, he made me hit him.” my second eldest was apparently trying to justify his action.

He made me hit him? Isn’t that an incredible story? I can give an allowance since it came from a nine year old kid ( though I must slowly reorient him that taking responsibility for your own actions as well as its consequence is important) , because even in the workplace, and among adults, we hear this story. He made me fail… - we hear this said or implied often.

The knack is that we think and act like we succeed because of our own efforts, but we Read the rest of this entry »