The Art of Parenthood

“Of all the commentaries on the Scriptures, wrote John Donne, “good examples are the best.”

In practicing the art of parenthood, an ounce of example in worth a ton of preachment. Our children are watching us live, and what we are shouts louder than anything we can say. When we set an example of honesty, our children will be honest. When we practice tolerance, they will be tolerant. When we demonstrate good sportsmanship, they will be good sports. When we meet life with laughter and a twinkle in our eye, they will develop a sense of humor. When we are thankful for life’s blessings, they will be thankful. When we express friendliness, they will be friendly. When we speak words of praise, they will praise others. When we confront failure, defeat, and misfortune with a gallant spirit, they will learn to live bravely. When our lives affirm our faith in the enduring values of life, they will rise above doubt and skepticism. When we surround them with the love and goodness of God, they will discover life’s meaning. When we set an example of heroic living, they will be heroes. Don’t just stand there pointing your finger to the heights you want your children to scale.

Start climbing and  they will follow!

 Wilferd A. Peterson

How Love Raises Children

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator, and I wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you feed a stray cat, and I thought it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you make my favorite cake for me, and I knew that little things are special things.

When I thought I wasn’t looking, I heard you say a prayer, and I believed there is a God I could always talk to.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I felt you kiss me goodnight, and I felt loved.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw tears coming from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it’s all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw that you cared, and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I looked and wanted to say thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn’t looking.

“A person’s true character is revealed by what he does when no one is watching.”

Excerpt from "The Measure of Our Success:

 A Letter to My Children and Yours"     

Marian Wright Edelman

           There is no free lunch. Don’t feel entitled to anything you don’t sweat and struggle for. If you see a need, don’t ask, “Why doesn’t somebody do something?” Ask instead, “Why don’t I do something?” This world needs more shepherds and fewer sheep.

Never work just for money or power. They won’t save your soul or build a decent family or help you sleep at night.

Don’t be afraid of taking risks or being criticized. If you don’t want to be criticized, don’t say anything, don’t do anything, and don’t be anything.

Don’t be afraid to fail. It’s the way you learn to do things right.

Remember that your wife is not your mother or your maid but your partner and your friend. Raise your sons to be fair to your own and other people’s daughters and to share parenting and household responsibilities. Teach them to clean up their own mess, pick up their own towels and clothes, take their dishes off the table and put things back where they belong for the next person.

Be honest. Struggle to live by what you say. Be moral examples for your children. If you lie, they will lie too. If you snicker at racial jokes, so will they.

Teach them good manners. “Please” and “thank you” are very important words. Being considerate will take them farther in life than any college degrees.

Let’s be clear on the fact that alcohol and tobacco are killing more people than cocaine. It’s time for consumers to speak out and put a stop to the marketing of sickness and death to our children.

Be confident that you can make a difference. Don’t get overwhelmed. Sometimes when I become frantic about all I have to do, I stop and remind myself to take each day as it comes and to break the formidable challenges into manageable pieces.

Never think life is not worth living, no matter how hard it gets. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote, “When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you and you think you can’t hang on a minute longer, don’t give up, for that is the time and place and the tide will turn.”

Choose your friends carefully and stay out of the fast lane. You were born God’s original. Try not to become someone else’s copy.

Remember that you are in charge of your own attitude. The only person you can control is yourself. You have a role to play every minute of the day. Have you ever noticed how one example, good or bad, can prompt others to follow? How one illegally parked car can give permission for others to do likewise? How one racial joke can fuel another? How one sour person can ruin a meeting? Well, the opposite is also true. An anonymous sage correctly said, “The world needs more people who do not borrow from integrity to pay for expediency, whose handshake is an ironclad contract, who are as honest in small matters as in large ones, who know how to win with grace and lose with dignity.”