Last evening Mary and I were discussing the contents of Sunday’s parenting class and all at once it occurred to me; parent is the first word in parenting! I know that sounds trite and even dumb, but think about it for a minute. Parenting and parenting books should be about the parent! We all know that kids become us! They even come to look like us!
Yet, most books on parenting are about the kids, not the parents? These books start with a problem kids have and then tell the parent what to do about it! If kid does A you should do B; if he does not do A, you should do C, and on and on. That seems backwards to me! Parents, like other leaders, should be in the front, not the rear! What successful leader leads from the rear? Lead from the front!
Since your kids will eventually think like you, act like you, and love, pray, and live like you, doesn’t it make sense to be the person you want your kids to become?
Be happy if you want your kids to be happy, read if you want your kids to read, go to church if you want your kids to go to church, tell the truth if you want them to be truthful, be trustworthy if you want to be trustworthy, be “nice” if you want your kids to be nice; I think you get the point.
But the contrary is also true, lie and your kids will lie, fight and your kids will fight, swear and they will follow. And, if you want your kids to be Steelers fans, see a psychiatrist or cut out your tongue!
All humor aside, “Don’t be concerned if you kids don’t hear everything you say, be concerned that they see everything you do!” (That is not my original thought, but I can not find who said it; if you know tell me.)
After more thought, I also realized that Messengers in Denim really talks about leading from the front! It is a book on “How to be a parent” not “How to parent.” I think, “Parent is the first word in parenting” really describes Messengers, don’t you?
One final thought, the first word in Christianity is Christ! And Christian books usually start with Him and how we can relate to His divinity. In my prayers I often asked Christ to help me carry my cross then last night I realized I should ask to help carry His.