Chapter 7 - “NO CHILDREN IN THE COUNCIL ROOM”
The first directive that affected Milo seemed harmless.
NO CHILDREN IN THE COUNCIL ROOM DURING FORMAL SESSIONS.
Reasonable.
Adults discussed sensitive matters.
I supported it.
Then Constance expanded.
No children in adjoining library.
No toys in ballroom during senior dinners.
No interruptions for bedtime.
One evening Milo came downstairs crying because he had wet through pajamas.
I was in council.
A nanny brought him to the hallway.
Constance intercepted.
“His father is occupied.”
The nanny said:
“He’s asking for him.”
“Then put him back to bed.”
I learned the next morning.
I was furious.
“Interrupt me next time.”
Constance said:
“Anton would never allow a child to walk into council.”
“Anton is dead.”
The sentence shocked both of us.
I had never said it that way.
She stared.
“You think his standards died too?”
“No.”
“I think my son can ask for me.”
Constance answered:
“That is how authority dissolves. One exception at a time.”
I laughed.
“Milo peed his pajamas.”
She did not.
That was when I should have examined every rule carrying my father’s name.
I did not.
I simply overrode that one.
Again:
May you like
Correcting incidents instead of the structure producing them.
A mistake repeated across families because structures are boring and incidents are vivid.
