Guest Author No. 1 - Mr. Glenn Heap
(Week 3 of 4)

But You Did It, Dad?

We may have made some mistakes as youth that our children have heard about (Those darn family reunions!).

Sometimes our siblings, or our parents, feel the need to let our kids know some stories that we’d rather they didn’t. The question then becomes: Do I have the right to teach my children to live principles that I once struggled with?

Let me answer by telling a story:

When my daughter, Veronica, was in Kindergarten, I had the opportunity and pleasure to pick her up from the bus stop after school two times a week.

The first day I went to pick her up I stumbled over part of the sidewalk.

One section of the sidewalk was about 2 inches higher than the adjacent piece. Since I hadn’t noticed it, I stumbled.

I proceeded to the bus stop to pick up my daughter. On the way back home I made sure to show Veronica where I stumbled.

She stepped carefully over those sections.

Should I have said to myself: ”What a hypocrite I am, to tell her not to stumble, when I, myself, stumbled?”

Should she have said,” Dad, you got to stumble, who are you to tell me not to stumble?”

We may have done some things in our youth that we regret.

Cracks On South Congress © Nika

There may be a parent who has had some issues with drugs and alcohol.

Does that disqualify them from warning their children about the dangers of substance abuse?

Of course not.

This may make them MORE qualified to talk about the subject. They may talk about the negative consequences that those bad choices had in their own lives.

Let’s talk about sex now.

There may be a single mom out there that had a child at 17. Their children have done the math and they know that mom was sexually active in high school.

Now it’s time for these parents to tell the un-glamorized version of the consequences of drugs, alcohol, and sex to their children.

For example, I may share that while one of my close friends was giving birth at 17, the baby’s daddy was at his Junior Prom (Once again, this is a true story). We simply need to tell our children the truth.

Budweiser’s version of alcohol consumption is not consistent with reality. How many fat, lazy guys drinking bear are surrounded by groups of 20 year old beautiful bikini clad women?

That is what our children see in a Budweiser commercial but we as parents need to show them the truth.

One day our children will thank us for being straight with them, and they will teach OUR grandchildren these same truths.

We are not always going to be popular in the house and with our children.

They may send a negative text or two about us to their friends. We need to have faith and trust in the truths and values that we are teaching our children, and in the good consequences that will result.

Parents need to be patient and know that all of their efforts will pay off in the end.

Parents need to have courage to parent properly.

You will be able to read the transcript next week from an interesting and informative Parenting Interview to help you think about how you can become the best parent to the children you love at any time, for any reason, over and over again.

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