August 9, 2011
Raising children can be a challenging and rewarding experience. Raising two teenage people, basically young adults can be absolutely frightening. Will they make the right choices? Will they stay out of trouble? How will they handle this situation? I hope they come to me with questions… are just a few things that parents ask and wish about their own namesake’s.
It is always a beautiful thing when your children come to you with an experience and you see the light bulb turn on above their heads.
It’s even better when their experience is done in a totally safe environment. “It’s all about perspective,” I told my teenage children after the wife and I came home from a weekend as a “couple.” I can’t believe grandma said this; I can’t believe grandpa did that. “Now I know why you get mad Dad when I…” “I am so glad you are home.” “I just stayed in my room all day.” “I couldn’t even go across the street.”
I told both my teenage children while discussing the weekend’s experiences around the dinner table, “Don’t discount what you have until you have a chance to share in another’s experience.”
“Sometimes what you have ain’t that bad.”
Life in a nutshell for my teenage children was this weekend. It emphasized the importance of understanding my “parental” perspective, their “teenage” perspective and the perspective of other people in their lives. The importance of getting along with others who were raised differently, act differently, have different belief systems and have different “perspectives” and “experiences” from life.
As teachers say, “that was a teachable moment, “ and there was a whole lot of learning going on.
