Teach your children well.......

Or........ do as I say not as I do?

Or......   the rabbit died... the hell do we do now?

“Teach Your Children Well” is a song by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young about the importance of generations teaching and learning from each other. 

Parenting, my take, is among the most rewarding and challenging aspects of life. We are the training wheels of the child's path.  Sure, once we 'take 'em off' (the training wheels, they graduate (or don't), move out (or don't), obtain employment (or not).. you know... 

Once those wheels are off, there is no predictor of path, skill, want, willingness... Methods vary.  Hardcore... 'wheels are off, you're on your own.'..   Doters... 'get a  boo boo, I'll be there... you fall over.. don't worry, I'll be there to help you get up (so you may never learn how to do so on your own, or something like that.) And many, many, versions in between.

The song's message is relevant today, and can be interpreted in a number of ways, including:    

Teaching values: Parents are their children's first and most influential teachers, and teach them values like kindness, tolerance, honesty and love. Or not.

Parents have much to learn from their children as well.  "The song's message is about breaking prejudice and ageism."  Or not.

We walk around in life...... we're all alike ain't we?  They, those mingling, raising kids, are just like us, yeah?  

Sometimes in life....... like, in football where they throw the challenge flag... or, baseball, the manager sits in the dugout.. checks with his 'people' (those with magnifying, replay instruments in a room somewhere unknown) for upon further review.

Upon further review is us sitting on a park bench. On a plane. In a bus. On a deck after golf. Out. Among. People. Other people. Closer inspection reveals (and I kinda short apologize for the profanity, but, for impact purpose) "holy shit, I can't believe you were raised like that... survived that... carry on, as if (and you are) normal." 

Or, your child did what?  Said what? 

Parenting, my take, is difficult enough, and then, as the song relates, you got the societal implications and messages given your children about war and other issues.  Fine line.  Wavy line. Interrupted line.  What line?

Victor, there is a saying about "Beating around a bush."  The hell you trying to say?

I ain't real sure.  The 'laboratory' of our parenting (or not) yields diverse results.  We've all seen 'perfect, with perfect children' - and, I don't mean that enviously, rudely, crudely - I mean that - for some, the results are so good, there may never be any understanding of any way besides "easy peasy, what's the big deal?" 

I guess if there's any message - it's that, parenting is like life..... try as we may (or not).. good intent that might be had (or not)..... we can not necessarily take 100% responsibility, break our arms patting ourselves on the back. (And, BY ALL MEANS, it's absolutely perfect and OK to be proud, know you've contributed, led well, 'done good mom, dad.').... just as..... we cannot, once those training wheels are off, lay at night with sleeplessness, or any time there's no music, our attention is undivided, and forever raise our shield to fend off those (perhaps, self thrown) arrows, day in, night out.

The song was written by Graham Nash in 1968 while he was a member of the Hollies. Nash was inspired to write the song after seeing a famous 1962 photo by Diane Arbus, Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park.

One can do what one can do.  Or not.

Love, Victurd