Parental Wisdom® by Tina Nocera

Do you think there is a parent heaven?

You would certainly hope so. After all, there should be some kind of a reward for all this hard but wonderful work.

Nature protects us from initially understanding this job. As you watch nervous first time parents coming home from the hospital they are so concerned about getting the car seat in properly, and then getting the baby in the car seat properly and finally surviving the first night home that they don’t realize something very important.

They are not only bringing home a baby, they are also bringing home a future learners’ permit carrying driver – yes, let me just say it – a teenager. Wheh! Thank God they don’t figure that out or they would take up permanent residence in the hospital under the watchful eye of professionals.

But still, there lessons are every day, and as parenting experiences pile up. Much like the children’s game of Chutes and Ladders, each day you get a step closer to winning, or in our case parent heaven. Naturally there are qualifiers such as going to Chuck E Cheese twice. Anyone that goes once can be excused because you don’t have a clue what you’re getting into. But when you do that second time, you are going with eyes wide open.

If you’ve ever sat through an entire season of little league games that start in March when you’re carrying your thermos of hot cocoa and wearing your parka and the games that end just before the 4th of July in the sweltering heat.

Another express pass to parent heaven is given to anyone that goes to a 4th grade recorder recital. The sounds coming from the stage of fifty 4th graders playing hot cross buns are enough to make your ears bleed. But we’re parents, and we react as if we’re hearing the sounds of the great classical musician Joshua Bell. We are there for our children and don’t mind any of these things at all, in fact they are a privilege.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Welcome to the very first Parental Wisdom daily inspirational call.

Let’s step back in time. It’s Sunday evening, September 9th, 1956. 60 million viewers representing 82.6% of the television viewing audience, the largest in history are tuned in to watch the very young, very handsome, Elvis Presley gyrate across the small screen.

I would imagine that the topic of discussion over the back fences of America that next day were largely centered around a great concern that the nation’s teenagers were headed down the road of moral decay because of this new rock music. What were these parents going to do? What I wouldn’t give to have that as our biggest problem today!

Every generation of parents believes that they have a more difficult time that the generation of parents that went before them. If perception is reality, than this is true. But to be fair, I’d like to share something,

“Children today love luxury too much. They have terrible manners, flaunt authority, and have no respect for their elders. They no longer rise when their parents or teachers enter the room. What kind of awful creatures will they become when they grow up?”

Socrates 400 BC

Perhaps the more things change, the more they stay the same. But in terms of parenting, can anybody have children? Perhaps there should be some qualifiers Here are a few things to think about before having children.

Would you want to have you as a parent?
Do you treat the people that matter in your life as well as you should?
Do you believe it is your job as a parent to tell a child what to think or how to think?

For the complete list of 10 Things to Consider Before Having Children visit Parental Wisdom and click on Free Reports where you can print out your own copy.

A special thanks to Dr. Rob Gilbert, professor at Montclair State University in NJ and the inspiration behind this concept.