Unfortunately, too few parents understand that their role model responsibilities to their children extend throughout every waking hour of every living day.

The imperative lesson to note here is that our children learn more from what they see their parents doing on a 24/7 basis than from being told by their parents what to do, or not do, in life.

The old cliché, "Do what I say and not what I do" has no place within a relationship between parents and their children.

Following is a listing of 57 behavioral elements that reflect society's day-to-day living patterns. A parent's responsibility in life is to best ensure that they first exhibit solid behavior -- not universally -- but consistently throughout these 57 elements and, then, prepare their children to do the same.

Parental Check List

• Test yourselves by reading through the above '57 check-list' to roughly estimate what kind of role model you are/will be to your children. Improve where you can.

   

• Understand that your 'worst moments in life' will absolutely be when you fully recognize that one or more of your children have become failures in life.

   

• Roughly estimate each of your children's '57 check-list' life-performance. If you see things that you do not like, identify which one or more of the following is the root-cause:

   

1. Your children reflecting their parents' bad behavior.
2. Your children reflecting their own misguided behavior.
3. Your children reflecting the regretful behavior of their friends.

FYI: Bad friends are the most universal cause of our children's failings. Consistently check out the lifestyles of your children's friends and prohibit them from seeing the ones that introduce bad habits into their lives.

• Any way you can, make it the highest priority in your life through home schooling to effectively remedy one or all of your children's obvious shortcomings that appear through an analysis of the above '57 check-list'. It is never too late.

Essentially, parents are using the above "57 check-list" to help their children grow their roots in life because, as superintendents certainly know, a well-rooted tree will prosper and flourish through its lifetime.

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Chris Tritabaugh

December 31, 2009 at 2:50 pm

"Jim, what a fantastic post! I owe just about everything I am today to the way I was raised by my parents. When it came to the big things in life my parents never told my siblings and I what not to do and they never needed to. Rather they set the most beautiful example of how to live our lives and be good people and contributing members of society."