Yes We Did

So many times I’ve heard people say that they just could not understand what had happened to their kids! They would say that they just “didn’t teach them that way!” Are you sure? Look back, we can’t put all the blame on today!
There is no way to lay that blame on just today! We must look back over our shoulder to yesterday! We must put some of that blame on people like you and me! Why us? I’m going to use myself as an example but if my shoe sometimes fits you then stand beside me and share some of that blame. Why me? Because I’m old as dirt and I’ve been witness to much that has shaped our today! So very much of it has happened in my lifetime! I and many of my peers started our lives before the Great Depression, when times were really rough, but we lived through it.
Next came World War II and when we came home from it, I can remember many saying; if I ever have kids I’m going to make sure that they never have it as rough growing up as I had.
I’ll back up a bit; when I was growing up, each time I messed up I ended with five or ten swats across my bottom by a leather razor strap about a yard long! After a few learning lessons like that, I taught myself to become three different people. I became the around home Bob, the around friends of my folks Bob and the Bob around people that I was sure would never talk to my folks! Even while in the military I soon learned how far I could push the envelope! Looking back, there isn’t a time I remember being the only sheep, in the flock! Wasn’t I that one that said that I would never let my kids have it as rough as me?
As each of my kids grew up I’m sure they too learned to develop into different individuals as well. I disciplined my kids but not as harshly as that I received. Remember, I didn’t want it to be as rough for them!
As their kids grew up, they let them get by with more. Because, they were afraid if they pushed too hard their kids wouldn’t love them!
Before World War II most families had a dad that worked and a mom that stayed home and raised the kids. Soon after war’s end our world started a new religion, we started worshiping stuff! Everyone had to have more and newer stuff! Soon after, we found that mom too had to work, just to help pay for all that new stuff! Many thought at the end they would be judged by the amount of stuff they had!
With mom home less, the kids found they could get by with more. And, they did! Looking back I can see that with each generation we taught our kids less discipline. The kids realized that with less supervision they could get by with more and with both parents now working and then coming home tired they could get by with even more!
Today, while watching the news, I learned of a restaurant that would not allow parents to bring any children six or under! Have we lost that much control over our kids? I wanted my kids to have it better than me but I didn’t expect it to cause us to lose control of them. Sometimes when we ask for something, we end up with more than we ask! Am I guilty of the way our world is today? Yes, beyond a shadow of doubt! But, so are you!