During the course of this blog, as I shape and mold the topics I want to write about. One clear topic that clearly has formed in my head is parenting. I know I may be new on the whole subject being the proud Papa of a 6 month old. So I will not go in depth about it or in any way criticize people's parenting skills. I certainly would not want to be on the other end of criticism. To start off this topic. I feel it is best to pay homage to the parents who have created who I am today. I grew up in a small town, values were the norm and my parents were excellent with them. My dad worked for UPS until his retirement. He currently still works part time as a van driver for a hospital. my Mom a former secretary and eventual housewife/craftaholic was active in our special needs system. Hell in my opinion she pretty much built the special needs system from the ground up. I still think my greatest advocate and teacher of advocacy is my mother. My dad taught me that hard work, even if its not always what you want to do is vital, his bosses rode him constantly how to do this and that in terms of efficiency. Though he always took the time to properly care for his customers and often and christmas we "reaped" the rewards in form of gift baskets and cookies.
By far the single greatest value my parents taught us? On most given nights we will all come home from our respective whereabouts and sit around the dinner table and enjoy a meal that my mom would cook. We would have real conversations and they would listen and occasionally dispense with advice, warranted or not.
I feel today we have a lack of "Listening", We as families need to sit around a table for 30 minutes enjoy a meal and just listen. I know we don't live in a Brady bunch era, hell even the Simpson sat around the table from time to time. Perhaps if we started to act more like the Simpson our children will start opening themselves up. I hope that when I'm in my retirement and Diana and I enjoy visiting our children and grandchildren they will have absorbed the same values that my parents have passed on to me.
For my parents who I love with all my heart
Thank you!
The very first time I cooked for Shannon, Peter was here from Colorado. We sat at the kitchen table, and Shannon said to me "I never eat at the table" and now that we live together, we eat at the table together every night. I always have eaten dinner at the table with my parents, and when I was married we did, and I.. um.. always will.
ReplyDeleteIt IS important to have that togetherness.