On vacation I had an interesting parenting moment.  I threw my son in the pool with his clothes on, something I had done a few times before, but this time the reaction was very different.  He was really upset and ran off.  When I caught up with him he complained about my making him lose his “dignity” in front of others. I was a bit shocked at his use of the word in the first place, but then it ocurred to me that this provided a great opportunity to talk with him about what that even meant.  We wound up having a great conversation about something that took me a long time to learn personally:  You have fairly little control over what happens to you, but you have a lot of control over how you react.

I  was reminded of this by Hillary Clinton’s speech yesterday at the Democratic National Convention.  Some of her initial reactions after the primary elections (and even more those of Bill Clinton) were letting anger and frustration show to the world instead of dealing with them privately or among friends.  As a result there was a lot of speculation about her appearance at the convention. Would she provide lukewarm support?  Endlessly rehash the primary?  Now we have the answer.  She provided emphatic and credible support to Barack Obama.  This was the kind of moment of dignity that I find really elevates a person.

It is too complicated an example for my young children to understand, but I am hoping to find ways (other than throwing them in the pool) to make them appreciate that the source of dignity lies in themselves.