Parental Example

7/16/2012

Sometimes I reflect on my days fathering teenaged children and wish I had done things differently.  I may have written on this before, but I am not going to read my entire Blog to find out, so here goes.

We as parents should worry less about whether our children are listening to us and more about the fact that they are watching us.  Albert Einstein reminded us that, "Setting an example is not just the main means of influencing another; it is the only means."  So if we want our children to develop good values, we must model those values.

As I write this, I am reminded of Shakespeare's admission that, "I can easier teach 20 what were good to be done, than to be one of the 20 and follow my own teachings."  So setting the right example for our children day in and day out is no small challenge.

I recall well being a senior officer in the Marines occupying pretigious positions such as 2d Marine Division Chief of Staff and Commanding Officer, 6th Marine Regiment where there was a staff secretary, executive officer, sergeant major, and driver/radio operator at my beckon.  They stood when I entered the room, opened the door to the sedan, and attempted to predict my every need.  Spoiled as I was, when I arrived home the kids might be on the sofa watching television and may or may not have even noticed I had arrived.  Sometimes I just wanted to put them at attention and inspect their rooms, which they would have failed.  However, then I would have had to deal with Mary.

I loved the movie, "The Great Santini", about the Marine Colonel who ran his home like Parris Island.  I took the kids to see it, and instead of enjoying the humor, my daughter Catherine was indignant about it.  I don't know if she thought it was surreal or what.