Deepology

Parental Duty; Leaving Something Behind for the Youth to Build On

There is an old saying amongst the black community, "you can't take it with you," usually stated in the reference of frivolous or sometimes necessary and even unnecessarily unforeseen spending.  The statement simply means, you might as well spend it now and be happy and worry about everything else later. While this statement is more than true (you can’t take it with you), it may not be the best personal philosophy for those who have children. 

The truth of the matter is that you can't take it with you!  But what you can do is build something to leave behind so that the generation behind you (your offspring) will have that much more of a head start.  I’ve seen and heard all too often the “you are on your own” attitude.  Granted; life is hard, for all of us…some more than others; but that is the whole purpose of building something for the generation that you are starting, and the generations to come that that generation will be starting.  Being the parent or the head of any family is about sacrifice. 

Every little bit counts.  Whatever you can do, or whatever you can do without is not only a gain for the ones who count on you, but it is also a lesson in how to raise the ones that will come to count on them in the future.  Some of the wealthiest families today are the products of previous generations who did just that.  The previous generations saw to it that it had something to pass to the next generation, and then that generation carried the torch adding what they could and passing it on to the next generation for them to make their contributions before passing it on again; and so on, and so on.  It’s the “snowball effect.”  These contributions don’t just have to be material or financial; they can be wisdom; the benefit of your life experiences without having to live through them is priceless.  Like I said, every little bit helps. 

How many times have you said or thought to yourself, “If I had only known!” or “If I could only go back and do it over with the knowledge I have today?”  Your job as a parent is to teach your child how to survive, period.  If you are not going to teach that child how to survive in this world, then you aren’t doing your job; plain and simple.  Don’t worry about what you don’t know or haven’t learned. Teach them what you do know and have learned, let them learn and build on that. If you are a “thirty – something”, “forty – something”, “twenty – something”, or younger (political corectivty), those are valuable years of experience that you can add to his or her young life, and they’ll be better off for having it. 

Knowledge is wealth, and the next generation will be richer for having it.

“Chuch!” 

December 27, 2006