January 29, 2025 PARENTS MUST LEAD!
The old adage originally attributed to Thomas Paine that says "Lead, follow or get out of the way has many applications, but parenting is not one of them. Parents must lead."- Detroit Flanagan
Listen to this meditation on audio:
There is nothing passive about being a parent. Nothing! That little lifeform that you helped create requires much more than it takes to train a puppy. The vast number of possible outcomes for a child are surely enhanced or squashed by the amount of vision possessed by the parents. There is no obedience school for infants, nor should there be. Parents, and parents alone, must shoulder the awesome opportunity and privilege of shaping the world and world view of their children. What could possibly be more important than nurturing, loving, guiding and developing your little person into a happy well adjusted and caring adult? I can't think of anything more important than that and I hope you can't either. Let's face it, not every one is cut out to be a parent. Self-centered, selfish and narrow minded individuals do not make good parents. While I stand by that previous sentence, I must confess that I have seen some individuals who fit the above description, completely change when their child is born. Unfortunately, I have also seen the converse of that situation. In my 8 plus decades of life, here's what I've learned: children need to be truly seen, truly heard, truly respected and truly loved by their parents. And interestingly, I have also observed that parents need to be truly seen, truly heard, truly respected, and hopefully loved and or liked by their children. The last two are not required, but can be byproducts of doing the parenting job well. But let me be clear, having our children like us or love us is not a requirement for good parenting. It sometimes takes some years of living and experiencing life before we are liked or loved by our children. And that's OK!
© 2025 Detroit Flanagan
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