happy thanksgiving to everyone!
having been born and raised in the philippines, i was not familiar with celebrating thanksgiving. but now i'd say it is my favorite holiday. that and new year's eve celebration. in retrospect, i love the idea of family gathering to celebrate and give thanks for being a family.
the love of family has a lot to do with much of the best in all of us. it gives us our sense of loyalty and belonging and a measure of our stability. that's why the family is important to a human being.
that's why i'm so thankful for my family.
wouldn't it be wonderful to have it celebrated as an international holiday?
Friday, November 27, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
how well do we (or do we really want to) know our kids?
lately, i've been amazed at how "growed" up my first four kids are--Kristine, Joel, Krystel and Jenna. and i was fascinated by how much they have changed from when i knew them as kids. even though for much of their lives, i have been an absentee father (something i'll regret for the rest of my life). but perhaps that made it easier for me to accept how they are now much more readily. it's like i'm just getting to know them.
there are those who really think and believe they know their kids very well. up to a certain point in time that is.... once they have flown the nest and set sail on their own, then they quickly evolve into beings we really can't recognize from prior knowledge even if we see them in front of us.
for good or bad it's nature's way. our effect on their existence is about as influential as a driver's ed course. we teach them the rules of the road, the dangers that we know of to avoid, the protocols to observe with other drivers, going forward, backward, parking etc. etc. like it or not, in simplistic terms, this is the major part of our stewardship of our children.
unless they continue to live under the same roof, our influence on their life diminishes to the point of almost nothing. and that's not saying it's bad. it just is. we say a prayer and we hope they carve a life of consequence on their own.
on a different note, i've always wondered when at the point in their lives that they try to reconcile the many lies we told to them when they were growing up--do they resent us for it or smile and accept the difficult aspects of parenting. personally speaking, i know that i only started to appreciate what my parents had been counseling me about when i became a parent myself. it's all about perspective i think. unless you see things from the same point of view, you won't really see it the same way. and even then, chances are you won't see things the same way.
life gets its way and change happens....
there are those who really think and believe they know their kids very well. up to a certain point in time that is.... once they have flown the nest and set sail on their own, then they quickly evolve into beings we really can't recognize from prior knowledge even if we see them in front of us.
for good or bad it's nature's way. our effect on their existence is about as influential as a driver's ed course. we teach them the rules of the road, the dangers that we know of to avoid, the protocols to observe with other drivers, going forward, backward, parking etc. etc. like it or not, in simplistic terms, this is the major part of our stewardship of our children.
unless they continue to live under the same roof, our influence on their life diminishes to the point of almost nothing. and that's not saying it's bad. it just is. we say a prayer and we hope they carve a life of consequence on their own.
on a different note, i've always wondered when at the point in their lives that they try to reconcile the many lies we told to them when they were growing up--do they resent us for it or smile and accept the difficult aspects of parenting. personally speaking, i know that i only started to appreciate what my parents had been counseling me about when i became a parent myself. it's all about perspective i think. unless you see things from the same point of view, you won't really see it the same way. and even then, chances are you won't see things the same way.
life gets its way and change happens....
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