The Double Toddler Day

Last week we agreed to watch our friends’ toddler while her day care was closed. We have a toddler of our own almost exactly the same age, so we agreed it would be fun for everyone. “Why not? Two toddlers can’t take that much more work,” we thought foolishly.

To no one’s surprise but ours it became clear to us that two toddlers are at least three times as much work as one. The math shouldn’t make sense, but trust us, it does.  We kept saying to each other, “Imagine if we’d had twins. We’d be doing this all the time.”

We learned a lot that day, and I’ll admit it’s not all useful outside of childcare. So I’ll leave “How to get two babies down for a nap simultaneously,” for another article. That aside, here are some lessons that credit unions can learn from toddlers.

The difference between comprehension and experience

Wondering whether we would have survived twins was a good reminder that other people’s lives are more difficult and more complex than we can imagine.

Credit unions are people-oriented, meaning you’re going to meet a few people who are trudging through some of the worst times of their lives. When someone is mired in debt, can’t get a loan, or working three jobs to survive, we do our best to understand their situation intellectually and pat ourselves on the back for showing empathy. But we need to remember that it feels different when you’re the one doing it.

Credit unions must emphasize their focus on the future

Every time I watch my toddler interacting with her peers, I find myself inevitably wondering about her future. When this happened last week I was struck by how unusual that felt. I don’t often find myself wondering about twenty years down the line, and I doubt many other people think that way on a day-to-day basis, either. But we should be thinking long term in a lot of industries.

I’ll admit I’m a bit cynical, but as far as I can tell, most corporations are rarely thinking beyond next quarter’s profits. This is one of the ways that credit unions really are different, and I can’t imagine it would ever be a bad idea to emphasize that difference. People want reliability and security from their financial institutions, and telling a young parent like me, “We’ll be here to help your toddler when she’s an adult” is a great way to illustrate that.

It all comes back to human connection

Watching my kiddo learning how to play with her friend, doing a so-so job of sharing her toys and snacks, and getting jealous about our attention brought some things back into focus. All of the planning, the stress, the jobs we work, the taxes we pay: The purpose of all of that is so that we can see our kids grow into kind, creative adults who care about helping others. And it all starts with two toddlers who are bad at sharing.

That person-to-person connection is at the heart of everything we do, and it should be the focus in all aspects of our lives. It seems to me that many of the problems we face would be much more straightforward if everyone approached them with empathy. Corporations that prioritize profit over people are just getting in the way of our fundamental human need to connect with each other.

So the next time you get to have input on a big change that might affect a lot of people, keep the toddlers in mind and look for a solution that is long-term and rooted in empathy.

Sam Dicken
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