A mother has used a tube of toothpaste to teach her 11-year-old daughter
an important life lesson about the power of words before her first day
of middle school.
Amy Beth Gardner from Cleveland, Tennessee, shared the photo above with
moving words in facebook post that has been shared more that 600
thousand times.
a plate before instructing her daughter to put it back inside.
She wrote
My
daughter starts middle school tomorrow. We’ve decorated her locker,
bought new uniforms, even surprised her with a new backpack. But
tonight just before bed, we did another pre-middle school task that is
far more important than the others. I gave her a tube of toothpaste and
asked her to squirt it out onto a plate. When she finished, I calmly
asked her to put all the toothpaste back in the tube.
She began exclaiming things like “But I can’t!” and “It won’t be like
it was before!” I quietly waited for her to finish and then said the
following:“You will remember this plate of toothpaste for the
rest of your life. Your words have the power of life or death. As you
go into middle school, you are about to see just how much weight your
words carry. You are going to have the opportunity to use your words to
hurt, demean, slander and wound others. You are also going to have the
opportunity to use your words to heal, encourage, inspire and love
others. You will occasionally make the wrong choice; I can think of
three times this week I have used my own words carelessly and caused
harm. Just like this toothpaste, once the words leave your mouth, you
can’t take them back. Use your words carefully, Breonna. When others
are misusing their words, guard your words. Make the choice every
morning that life-giving words will come out of your mouth. Decide
tonight that you are going to be a life-giver in middle school. Be
known for your gentleness and compassion. Use your life to give life to
a world that so desperately needs it. You will never, ever regret
choosing kindness.”