Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy are most famous for adopting Michael Oher when he was a homeless teenager and helping that extraordinary young man turn his life around and grow up to be a renown NFL player – offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens. Michael is far from the only person who has benefited from what the Tuohy’s describe in their new book, “In a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving” as Leigh Anne’s “inner ferocity.”
As Leigh Anne tells ParentDish in an interview promoting the new book, she doesn’t ever stand by when she sees a kid being “knocked around” in public.
“Sean [her youngest son] says somebody’s going to shoot me one day, and I tell him, ‘You know what, that’s OK. I’ll have died doing something that I felt was worthwhile.’” She told ParentDish.
But, for such and aggressive, personality, Leigh Anne is remarkably reticent to give parenting advice.
“I hate to give advice because what works for one group of people doesn’t necessarily work for everybody else.” She said. “I used to get so mad at our pediatrician because he’d always quote me and tell stories about us to his other patients and then I would see them out in the real world and they would say, ‘Well, Dr. Bill says this and this.’ And I’d talk to Bill, and I’d say, ‘Don’t tell people (about my parenting style). Just because this is how I do this doesn’t mean that it’s right and that it’s going to be right for other people.’”
So it’s only fitting that, while “In a Heartbeat” is full of advice and anecdotes that parents may find both enlightening and entertaining, it’s really more of a challenge than a lesson. As Leigh Anne put it:
“My challenge to people is, ‘Turn around. Look to your left. Look to your right.’ That quickly, there can be somebody under your nose that needs your help and even the smallest bit of kindness — not necessarily bringing them into your home and adopting them, but you know, give a coat to a shelter, and take it yourself. You will get immense satisfaction out of seeing what it does for someone else.
And if you do those sorts of things on a regular basis, it becomes second nature to you. And that’s what I hope that people do. Small acts of kindness. If we all do that it will have a profound effect on this country and I really believe that. I truly do.”
