Saturday, August 31, 2019

Advice in raising children



 A favorite car
 1976 Ford F150

Now:
For some reason I was thinking yesterday of telling my grandkids, ‘Soon you will realize you knew/know nothing about raising kids.  Soon and very soon you will learn from some expert, what you thought was right, was actually  180 degrees out. The expert will be a grandparent, friend or the latest hit writer on parenting advice.”
I will not try to tap dance a good answer. I blew it more times than I can count. But when Jack Jr and Mark David were born, the doctor forgot to give us the instructions booklet, on the care and feeding of this beautiful child we had just been blessed with.
I have met some great parents. Parents who raised their children to adulthood and never fought the drug war, they never had to go down and collect their son or daughter from the jail.
I actually KNOW other truly wonderful loving parents whose children spent the majority of their adult lives in prison.
We, parents, as a rule try the best we know how to be good parents. We give it our all, but still, because we do not have the ‘instructions booklet’ things can go wrong.
All children are free moral agents. They make up their minds as they see fit. And live their lives. Some of us succeed in spite of ourselves but got here with mother’s prayers.
We head for Oak Ridge, TN today for a couple days out! WE are giving Rosemary and her grandpa Jack a ride to see her cousins Jude and Kennedy. Of course the parents Josh and Megan are going along too!  We hope to have some great family time.
                                             Nite Shipslog

10 comments:

Lisa said...

I know preacher kids in prison and prisoners kids be preachers. I always thought they are set by example of who they hang with and rebel against the parents.

Safe travels
Lisa

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

Best advice I ever got...you cannot love your children too much. Thankfully none of mine got into drugs or to be to prison. but that doesn't mean I did everything right either. I was known as the mean mom. Wouldn't it be great if life came with an instruction book! Safe travels and enjoy your trip!

yaya said...

We have 4 wonderful boys who are now men with families of their own. (except the youngest who doesn't want kiddos.) We've had our ups and downs and wondered where we went wrong on a few occasions. But they are all good guys and have good careers, sweet families and good health. And that's everything! We have kids before we have any experience and then we make mistakes..but the best way to becoming experienced is by making mistakes! Have a great Labor Day weekend and enjoy your family time!

Susan Kane said...

Well said.

I have wondered how in the world our precious babies were handed over to us without a tiddle of instruction. Without checking out our credentials. But we muddled through, raised three kids, who are now facing that same dilemma!

There are two gr-daughters and 3 gr-sons, and another on the way! We are blessed. Love this post. it says so much.

Mevely317 said...

Unlike his mother and dad, my son (and his wife) are seriously shining examples of what it means to be a parent. Still, I find it puzzling how in some families, siblings who are raised in exactly the same manner can turn out so differently.
Safe travels and good times!

Chatty Crone said...

I agree - sometimes you think you have tried so hard - and things didn't turn out the way you thought they would.
And others who you think would turn out with issues are fine.
Kids do have their own minds - DNA - friends - etc.
Sandie

Dar said...

Our kids are all pretty much unscathed but it doesn't mean it can't happen in their growing families. Life seems to get harder and harder for kids today. My prayers to them all...The hardest job I've ever had and still do sometimes, it parenting and grand parenting. We never stop being parents do we. Have a wonderful time with your family this holiday.
love n' hugs from up north where lil sis and I spent half a day garage saling and the other half working in the garden. Life goes on for this homebody.'

Glenda said...

Great post! I see heartbroken parents every weekend and it's so sad.
Have a wonderful trip, stay safe!

My Tata's Cottage said...

Love that truck! Safe travels and enjoy the ride! My mother use to tell me when my kids were small, God gave you a good husband and healthy children. You don't need anything else. I'm glad she was there to give me advice.
I guess we did something right. Our kids are 43, 34, 31, 28 and 26! The crazy things they do make us breath easier. Today, at the hospital with our new grandson, Nick our baby pretended to grab the nose of his sister Rebekah (31). Than he tossed it in the corner. His sister Hannah (26) got in on it and our son Jeremy (34) had the best laugh. I guess that is better than people I have known who personally had to deal with the pain of drug addiction, alcoholism and other life tragedies. The oldest was on a weekend trip and cut it short. they traveled with their son and his little phamily so left their cars in our yard. Our Hannah just drove to Laramie, Wyoming to pick them up. Noelle can't stand not to see that new nephew. That's about as wild as we get! You know, Erma Bombeck once wrote a book titled, something like, Normal is just a setting on your dryer. HaHaHa
Enjoy your weekend!

betty said...

Actually we do have an instruction book, LOL. The Bible! Its fun to watch your child father/mother their children. You get to see some of your style in them but often they adapt their own probably based on what they liked or didn't like in the way they were parented. But so true, each child comes with their own footprint and free will and will determine their own path especially after they come to adulthood.

Safe travels! Sounds like a fun trip!

betty