What It Means To Love Your Children

A disciplinarian, who complements a good deed
An instructor, who understands
A guide, supervising a child to deal with the real world
A listener, giving the child some respect
They will love and respect us
If we help and understand them
They will hate and despise us
If we try to make and destroy them
We cannot be their rulers
    Expecting them to worship us
    Trying to make them the way we want them to be
We are only their teachers
    With understanding
    Showing them what they need to see

Some parents will say
    "I love you"
    and do nothing
They will not teach their child to fly
Will not teach them to hunt
or train them to survive
When this child rebels
and runs away
    They ask "Why"

By:  Roger Harkness