Sue Bower
Jefferson City
Dear Editor:
They say you can judge the tree by the kind of fruit it produces. We judge the parents by their children, employers by their employees, students by their teachers, children by their friends, countries by their citizens. But where does the initial responsibility lay? Parents stand up, for the initial responsibility is yours, but the very first responsibility rests with the mother.
What does the mother want for the child? A “home” with two parents, a stable family life, to be able to provide for the child, to have a belief system in place by which to instruct your child in the challenging lifetime of becoming a good man/woman? I have heard women boast of having somebody’s child out of wedlock in the “hopes” of securing for herself a better “lifestyle” — not a boast of having a loving husband and home in which to raise a loved child. Women, think before you do. What kind of woman are you? A risk-taker? What would you do if you had a child outside of marriage? Are you securing a future for your child? What will your reputation be? We women are ultimately responsible because we are the ones at risk of having a child we cannot enrich and care for.
Parental responsibility comes next. It is so easy to do things for our children. It takes less time, and with children, there is no “free” time for parents, so I hope you know what you are getting into. Teach them that there is no “easy out.” Hard work brings success. Teach them everything, from sewing on a button to filling a tire with air to mowing to cleaning to school work to friendship to minding their parents, to respecting their elders and people in authority. Teach them well, my children. They will emulate you.
Akin to this:
Drivers are responsible for their roads and cars — pay the taxes, the upkeep and the insurance. Parents are responsible for
1) schools: be involved;
2) realistic dreams: don’t live vicariously through your children: they aren’t going to be pros or stars. Get real and don’t waste money on traveling teams, don’t set them up for failure;
3) teach them what really matters: hard work, getting respect for what they do well, learning from failure, doing for themselves, learning as much as they can, and having faith.
Then we will all be proud of each other.