You started me thinking again of something that happened to me 2 weeks ago....
I was taking a trip to Taneycomo with my buddy and fellow OAF member (who rarely posts)to try to catch some bigger bass. I proposed this trip to him about 4 months ago and we had just started driving down from STL. We had gotten down just past Lebanon and he received a phone call from his wife. I could tell by the tone of the conversation, it was not going to be good. His wife informed him that his father had just died of a heart attack. We turned around at the next exit and started back home. Having just lost my father 1 1/2 years ago, we were kind of in the same situation. We both agreed that parents of the world war 2 gen were great parents but were definitely different than the parents of today. We both agreed that our parents without a doubt taught us right from wrong very well. We also both agreed that aside from the right and wrong teaching, we never received much guidance. I remember my father and mother sitting me down when I was a senior in high school (1979), and telling me if I wanted to go to college, they would pay for it. But the conversation pretty much stopped there. Neither of them went to college and had no idea how to even direct me to something other than a skilled trade. Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not faulting them...it's all they knew. As boys, my brother and I were pretty much on our own. But my buddy and I agreed that this might indeed be the greatest way of teaching a child: Let them experience things on their own. We made mistakes and learned from them and survived to tell the tale. I think this might be one of the biggest things missing in todays children. I'm trying so hard to raise my 2 young girls so they don't think they are the center of the universe, but boy it can sometimes be extremely difficult. I'm also trying to give them a wee bit more guidance than my parents gave me. Gosh, parenting is tough!