Where have all the parents gone?

At this time of year, my thoughts return to my father. It has been a long time, but his memory lives on. I often wonder what he would think of what is happening in our world today if he came back.

I grew up with a father who believed in being “the” father. I confess that he was not always right all the time, but what he said was law in our house. That is, of course, unless your wife contradicts it. Then it was time for the children to seek shelter outside where we could not hear what was happening.

I can’t help but believe that some of the problems we have in our society today wouldn’t be a problem if we had parents. How many families are there where children grow up without knowing their father? It’s no wonder they don’t respect authority.

Although my father was not a very educated person, he knew how to use the Board of Education at Learning Headquarters for all of his children. Some of the things he did “on the day” would bring him some real legal trouble today.

For instance. My father believed that he had the right to be a judge, jury and executioner in everything related to the lives of his children, without appealing to a higher authority.

In the kitchen, hanging by the door to go out, there was a very interesting parenting tool, at least in my father’s eyes. It was an oar with a religious inscription, “I need you every hour.” The inscription was quite true to the reality of life in our home.

Spanking was a routine exercise in our home. My father had the idea that if you had problems at school, you would also have problems at home. I had this fantastic idea that the teacher was right and I was wrong. I guess he knew me and could take a bit of truth and turn it into a lie. I wonder who I learned that from.

Several times I got into trouble at school, which involved a beating in the principal’s office. The first time this happened, I remember very well that I walked into the kitchen and saw my father standing there holding that infamous oar in his hand. Within moments, the rowing was doing its duty and I was doing the “rowing dance.”

After rowing, my father sat down with me and said, “Okay, what trouble did you get into at school that required the principal to row you?”

I wish he had asked me before he rowed, because now he had no incentive to lie. Looking back, maybe that was the purpose of rowing.

I remember well one time in the backyard, I did something that required parental action. My father looked at me and said, “Go get me a switch. You need to be taught a lesson.”

At the time, I thought he was funny, however after the fact I couldn’t see any humor in him. I went to find the “switch” according to my father’s instructions and came back with a twig. I thought it was funny, but my father had no sense of humor about it. In a few moments my sense of humor evaporated because my dad went and got a switch, which is very different from a twig, just ask my butt.

Reflecting on these things, I tried to calculate how many spankings I received during my life. Let me tell you that it was significant. More than that. He taught me to respect authority.

I wonder if some of these young men who got into trouble today have taken a beating. Of course, today that is completely against the PC. My father didn’t believe in PC, but he strongly believed in BS (Back Side). I think if today’s parents focused more on BS than PC, things could be very different.

Today, people think that such old-fashioned spankings represent cruel and unusual punishment. However, if you look at this generation that hasn’t taken an old-fashioned beating; I think the evidence speaks for itself.

To spank or not to spank, that is today’s dilemma. Most lean towards the “no spanking” aspect without realizing that they are doing a lot of harm to the next generation.

I must say that my father was not too interested in what people today call “love”. He was more interested in respecting authority. In fact, when I think about it, when you respect authority you are showing love. Today’s people do not know how to love because they do not know how to respect authority.

I think if some of these young people could spend a week with my father and his infamous “paddle” they would come to respect authority. Unfortunately, nowadays there is no authority figure in most households. Even those households that have fathers are forced to believe that the father has no real meaning in the family.

All I can do is quote a famous psychologist: “How is it working?”

Well how is that working?

The wisest man in the world, Solomon, said, “The Lord corrects whom he loves, as a father corrects his son in whom he delights” (Proverbs 3:12).

True love always corrects what is wrong, especially in the person they love.