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Category Archives: Fathers/Fatherhood

If Little Girls Are Made of Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice, What Are You Made Of?

Wise Women Chronicles

What Am I Made Of?

My Daddy’s Mom was soft and round.
So am I.
She smiled and called squirrels and birds to her side.
So do I.

My Mommys’ Mom was clean and hard.
So am I.
She looked after folks and organized lives.
So do I.

My Daddy’s Dad was silly and hard working.
So am I.
He honored the past and created the future.
So do I.

My Mommy’s Dad was short and strong.
So am I.
He loved to work with his crafty hands.
So do I.

My Daddy was smart, determined and proud.
So am I.
He stood straight and met life with his chin.
So do I.

My Mommy is small and fierce in her love.
So am I.
She challenged her kids and stood by her man.
So do I.

So where is the sugar and where is the spice?
It’s all in a nursery rhyme.
If you think we all came from the same recipe,
You’d better rethink that thought, twice.

It’s Parents’ Day, Wise Women.
We’re all familiar with Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day.  Parents’ Day is a relative newcomer to our calendar.  In 1994, President Clinton signed a Congressional Resolution into law which was established for “recognizing, uplifting, and supporting the role of parents in the rearing of children.”

Today, the word “Parents” means more than just mother and father.  Many children are being reared and loved by grandmothers and grandfathers, great grandmothers and great grandfathers, stepmothers and stepfathers, and foster mothers and fathers.  Aunts and uncles have stepped up to fill a void.  Older siblings.  Even neighbors or friends.  Some parents are the same gender.  Some are not. And sometimes the parent is a single person.

The recipe for “Parent” has changed to reflect our changing society.  What has NOT changed is that a Parent has a sacred duty.  To love, teach, support, encourage and protect each child in their custody. Most of us devote our lives to this duty.  Some fail.  And when they do, we hope and pray that SOMEONE will pick up the slack and give that child what EVERY CHILD deserves.

If you believe, as I do, that it takes a village to raise a child, look around your village.  Is there a parent that needs some help?  A job?  A few hours to themselves?  An encouraging word?  Some clothes for their kids or some school supplies?

Donate to organizations that help families.  Volunteer to work at schools or churches or synagogues or mosques.  Foster a child in need.  Write your Congress persons about legislature that affects parents and children.  Be an Advocate for children AND parents.

We are not made of sugar and spice and everything nice.  Nor snips and snails and puppy dog tails. We are made of bits and pieces of our parents, our families, our friends and our vast village.

Be made of the right stuff.
Love.

 

 

Posted in Children, Fathers/Fatherhood, Love, Motherhood, Parenting, Self Awareness

What is the Greatest Lesson Your Father Taught You?

Wise Women Chronicles

What is the Greatest Lesson My Father Taught Me? A parent is always a parent, no matter how long they–or you–live. A wise parent knows when to stop actively parenting and just BE a parent. Family was everything to my father.  Sure, he loved his sports, his work, traveling.  But his true love was our Mom and us five kids. He worked hard to provide a comfortable life for his family.  Clothes. Camping. College.  As his success increased so did his free time. Instead of giving that time to himself, he gave it to us. I left the nest first. As each of us kids flew off, every year our parents provided us a way home.  They were united in their commitment to keep us kids close to them and close to each other.  Vacation destinations were offered as loving bait to bring us back together. As our individual families … Continue reading →

Posted in Acceptance, Dreams, Fathers/Fatherhood, Love, Memory, Self Awareness

Who Would You Like to Have a “Curiosity Conversation With?

Wise Women Chronicles

Who Would I Like to Have a Curiosity Conversation With? I would talk to someone who has passed on.  My Dad. I would ask him about his childhood, growing up in the Al Capone/Chicago mafia controlled Cicero, Illinois. I’m curious about his parents coming over from Europe as teenagers. How did they meet? Who and what did they leave behind? Then I’d ask him about the two wars he fought in–World War II and Korea–that he always refused to discuss with us kids.  Was he scared?  How did he cope?  What thoughts gave him courage?  How did war change him? I’m curious about he felt about playing college football and falling in love with the cheerleader who became his wife and my Mom.  What made college so special that he went back to his reunions every year for over 50 years? I want to know more about my childhood.  What … Continue reading →

Posted in Death, Fathers/Fatherhood, Love, Memory
© Wise Women Chronicles, Karen Young • Wise Women Banner Illustration by Kimberly Mayden
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