Parenting Towards Partnership (Part 1)

Parenting shifts into different seasons as the kids grow up. It’s amazing how things change, and in just a short time. You may remember the diapers or the getting-into-everything times, or how about driving to all the activities that you could get your child into? You may still be living those times. If you are, cherish those times and invest time into your kids. It will pay off when they get older.

 

Harry Chapin wrote a song called “Cats in the Cradle” that talks about a relationship between a dad and his son.  The song reveals the relationship from the cradle to being grown. There is one part in the last verse that hits hard on the way we raise our children. It goes:  And as he hung up the phone it occurred to me, He'd grown up just like me, my boy, was just like me.

 

That song was an indictment on a father that didn’t spend time with his boy while he was growing up. The choice is ours: to invest or not, into the most precious resource we are entrusted with. Do you want that child to grow up just like you?

 

What about when they become teenagers?  Do you want that time to pass fast because you don’t know how to relate?

 

I’m convinced that it is never too late to spend time with your kids no matter their age.  It’s all about relationship.

 

I’ll write next time about what I’m finding the rewards to be in parenting toward partnership.



 

Dirk