I was in the 4th grade when a flying clog taught me the value of respecting the property of other people. Well, the flying clog , and the nearly red-hot exploding head of my violin teacher who upon re-entering the music room after stepping out briefly, was shocked to find a section of wood chipped off his prized instrument.

In that quick glance from his violin to my wooden-heeled clog sitting suspiciously on the floor close by, I realized that my future career as a violinist would most likely end.  Here.

Film of this childhood memory still plays clearly in my mind.  In slow motion, I recall kicking up my leg, watching the clog fly off my foot and soar, with force, across the room, on an unintended path of destruction.  As the clog-missile made its bulls-eye landing on the fragile body of my instructor’s violin, the room filled with the chorus of  kids singing,  “Ooooh, you are in trouble now!”

The instructor returned and eyeballed the missing chunk from his instrument, and then turned to locate the cloggless foot. Guilty. I seriously thought this man might just haul off and hit me – or give up teaching 4th graders altogether.

I recently shared this story with both my children and the students to whom I teach music at an area pre-school. The children, mine included, were surprised to hear that I could make such a drastic mistake.

Having stunned them, I took the moment to address the importance of respect and care for treasured belongings, whether they belong to you personally or someone else.

For example, in our house we treat the following items with respect and care:

• Instruments: Having learned my lesson from childhood, I have taught my children that our guitars are not to be touched without permission. They aren’t hands-off items, that would be downright silly, and yet, one MUST ask permission first. We do not stand on their cases. We do not throw anything at instruments.

• Books: Books are not to be thrown, sat or stood upon, used as coasters, or eaten (this rule took affect after my son, then age 2, threw up a Paper Mache-like substance after chewing the spine off Good Night Moon.)

• Scrapbooks: I’m trying my best to work on individual scrapbooks for the kids and while they are certainly allowed to look at them (again, what’s the use of a hands-off scrapbook) we are careful as we turn the pages, we don’t grab them out of a viewer’s hands, and we don’t leave them laying around – they are returned to the shelf.

• Baby Blankets and Snowman: My daughter knows not to threaten or tease her brother by holding his two favorite baby blankets hostage. Same goes for my daughter’s beloved Snowman. No teasing with the “loves”.

It’s never too early to teach our children how respect those items which hold meaning to other people. Notice, I said teach.

Rather than just saying, “NO! Do not touch that”, why not share with you children,

• the reason they must not touch

• how to touch an item with respect and care.

Are there special treasures in your home that you have taught your children to handle with respect and care?