As parents, we draw from the well of our own childhood and lifetime experiences for answers.
Carefully pulling out lessons that will quench the thirsty mind of a curious child and guide them safely through life.
During this search for knowledge we must be mindful. The bucket we pull from deep down may be full of both good and bad experiences.
This personal exploration, although necessary, may open wounds and stir up many uncomfortable memories.
Those memories that we choose to share must be handled and explained with caution.
We must maintain a certain balance so as not to spill the impetuous past that is known to be our adolescent reality.
For some parents, this may be a prudent and necessary practice.
Some parents may go so far as to filter their immature and impulsive history, in an effort to protect their child from the errs of their ways.
Certainly, a rosy selection of life lessons may be more palatable for both parent and child, yet far less educational in the long run.
The raw and unfiltered experiences that we pull from our well of worldliness, contain that which is often most feared; the truth.
Once reality is salvaged a true learning experience can take place.
The truth, being a survivor of conscious past, contains within it, a process of instruction that may impart a life long lesson that will live for generations to come.
As parents we must come to terms with our human condition. We must find a teachable moment, in all our experiences, positive or negative.
Every life lesson makes us into the people that we are.
Our children deserve to know the diverse and rich encounters that have cultivated the unique parents that guide them.
In order to provide an individualized and responsible parenting style, we should try to completely empty that well.
We must pour the knowledge gained in a cup for all, and make a toast to honesty and trust.
Parents and children need to have both of these elements to communicate effectively, respectfully, and memorably.
With all these key ingredients, the parent’s well of knowledge will never run dry.
