?Be Nice? is one of the most common phrases we say to our kids, especially our young ones. It comes out of our mouth without thought, like a reflexive reaction to our eternal fear that our kids will grow up to be unscrupulous and cruel.
Let?s stop to examine, what ?be nice? really means.
As adults we are preoccupied with constant activity. We either like to engage in physical doing or mental doing; either way, we harbor the belief that our every second needs to be filled with some activity or the other. In fact, the very basis of our self-esteem rests on the amount we do, how much we earn, how good we look, and how socially connected we are.
Our children are born with none of these worldly concerns.