No matter what you are only as good as your word

I try to tell my kids all the time , you are only as good as your word, that is who you are and it proceeds you all your life. I never tell my girls I will do something,I always say we'll see, this way if I can't do it I didn't promise and then not deliver. I remember my mom telling me stories about her father who would promise her he would be there to pick her up and she would sit by the window all day not moving, afraid she would miss him, until it got dark out and her grandmother would have to drag her away crying to go to sleep because he never showed up. As she told me this story some 60 years later, she cried because it still hurt her so much, all of the broken promises he made her and never kept,60 years of hurt and pain because you couldn't keep your word. When I was married my sister in law would call and tell me to tell the girls she was coming to get them, I would get them ready and they too would sit by the windows waiting, the first time she didn't show I let it go, as thing's happen, the second time I called her and told her if she ever wanted to see my kids again I would be telling them when she was standing at the front door. I would never put my girls through the hurt and pain my mother went through, and as sure as I was breathing no one else was going to. How do you want people to view you? I know a few friends that although they have big hearts are the biggest bullshiters I ever meet.You never know what is true and what is a lie, they become like the boy who cried wolf, is he telling the truth or isn't he? I am an adult and if you lie to me, I know it will hurt when I find out but we have all been around the block and it has happened to us before but when you lie to a child, especially my child, you need to check yourself as I will come out fighting. You are breaking a child innocence, they have big hearts, they see and believe the good in people, they are not jaded, they open up their hearts and take you in. To do that to a child , you change who they are and how they view the world. My daughter said the other day something that was so profound, she told someone. "with that being said, I hope you learned a lot because I'm 17 and your 51 and I will never be a liar and I learned that within half of your existence" I am glad I have lead by example and that she has learned that you are your word and how truly important that is.