There are some people I just can’t understand. Walk through a store like Wal-Mart some time and you’ll generally see at least one parent shouting insults at their child in front of everyone else. I just don’t get that. Everyone’s home life is different, from schedules to relationships. I totally get that and I realize that many parents are working very hard to make it in this world. But I can’t accept parents who take out their worldly frustrations on their own kids. That isn’t parenting. That’s weak.
I think the one thing we all have in common is our responsibility to be great parents to our children. In ten or fifteen years when my kids stand up to speak at the inevitable campfire at summer camp I want them to have positive things to say about our home life. I don’t want be the dad of the kids who feel like their parents don’t love them, abandoned them, or care about other things more then them.
We all had that friend growing up where the family laughed together and people liked being at their house. My son gets to be that kid!
What is your home environment like? Is it the haven for the kids with tough family lives, or is it the place your kids are trying to escape?
While I don’t have kids and I’m not married, I am very proud of my family. Even though we’re flawed, I would be lost without my Mother and Father. We still, after 28 years eat dinner together at three times a week at the table and we’re close knit.
There were times when it was hard, times when words were spoken out of anger but I take comfort in the fact my parents have instilled their values along to me. They have taught me the importance of hard work, to never give up, and to never allow any one to keep me from what I want to do in life.
I think the problem in society nowadays is the fact that a vast majority of parents are not 26-32 years old. They are younger. When children are becoming parents at a faster rate than adults, it’s often hard for them to grasp the level of responsibility it takes to become a parent. I think that lack of maturity is what you are probably witnessing when you see a parent talk down to their children or when they take out their frustrations about life on to them.
I’ve been in the cross fire of that and I see it where I live. Life is hard, there’s no question to that. However, I feel that when you take on the role of a parent, you should treat your children with the same respect you want to be treated.
I am going to be forever changed by the words and actions my parents have told and shown me over the past 28 years. When I have children I will make it a point to be a parent they are proud to call “Mom.”
I hope as a society we can learn to do the same. Great post and perspective Daniel!
Peace & Grace,
Julie