Lessons from SuperDad: Kid Power

I ended up ranting in my last post about being sick of the bullshit that surrounds us today.

Lets talk about our children.   How can we help them be what this country so desperately needs?  Can we force them to be certain ways?  Can we bribe them to be certain ways?

Sure.  But how will you ever know if their actions are genuine?  If they did something out of fear, or out of desire for a cookie or money?

Do I have the answer?  Yes, but not in the way that you think.

Spend time with them.  Teach them.  Help them learn to be better people.  How?

By being a better person yourself.  Yes, YOU!  Everyone can help children grow up to be better adults, simply by being a better person themselves.  And yeah, I’m even talking to the people who don’t have kids.  How many do you see during the day, at night, on the weekends?  Do you realize how much a frown or a smile from a passerby can influence anyone, especially a child?

How can you do this?

Smile.  It’s not hard.  Takes less muscles than it does to frown.  Yes, look it up
Breathe.  It can’t be all that bad.  Take a few deep breaths and relax already.
Think.  How is my mood/action/reaction going to affect the people around me?
Slow Down.  Life is way too precious for it to all get lost in “getting there already”  Enjoy the journey.

I’ll be posting lessons from time to time according to the best parent in the world.  Me    No, that’s not pompous, it’s the truth.  I believe it, therefore I must act like it, right? It’s not meant in comparison to anyone else, it’s more a reminder for me that my job on this earth is not to go to work, it’s to raise two kids, and influence others, to be the best people they possibly can be.

Enuf already

Iraq Weapons Are a Focus of Criminal Investigations

People are dying. Their fighting for what they think is right. For a decision made my money grubbing, greedy, uncaring people who are only in it for themselves.

PEOPLE ARE DYING FOR MONEY!!!!

Wait, that’s happened before, I forgot. People are always dying for money. What a great cause.

“We need to do something about it” “But I’m only one person”

I’m so sick of that, but truly, what can we all do? What can each one of us do? The political system is totally screwed. The vast majority of the population would most likely roll over for a few extra bucks.

You know what’s wrong with this country? (I can’t believe I’m going to say this)

Lack of Ethics

period. The generation above me and my generation – “I don’t give a rats ass as long as I can make more and spend more and get more and show off more and more and more!”

WTF? Wait, I know! I’ll run for president and change everything. Um, no. That won’t work. No one would vote for me because I wouldn’t want to take all that money. Bill Bradley tried that, and look where it got him!

You know what you can do? Teach your kids. Teach the kids who are learning what life is like the hard way. Teach your kids, or at least the kids you come into contact with

• Manners
• Patience
• Respect

and most importantly

• Whatever they do, they are responsible for their own actions and the consequences of those actions.

Don’t hide things from them that you’ve done in the past. Let them learn from your mistakes and bad decisions so that they don’t make the same bad decisions and mistakes. Don’t try to “just not let them” do things because they’ll rebel even more. Let them benefit from your experiences.

Do my kids know I did drugs when I was in college and that it took me 11 years to finish?

HELL YES!

“I’m not going to do drugs Dad, ever.” I’m glad they’re saying this now, but it’s important to follow through. Keep up the reminders, the reasons, and the explanations so they don’t think it was just a speech that you felt obligated to make when they were 10, before they were every exposed to anything.

CONSISTENCY is the key.
AWARENESS of their actions
RESPONSIBILITY for those actions
THINK ETHICALLY about anything they do.

Wait, where did this soapbox come from? Okay, I’ll get down now.

Postsecret

If you’ve never seen it, it’s worth taking a look at:

PostSecret

He made a mini-movie that you can watch on the front page that’s pretty interesting. Why is it so uplifting to share your secret? Get it off your chest without getting in trouble maybe? Getting it off your chest without anyone knowing?

I have yet to send one in because I don’t have any secrets. Okay, everyone does, but mine seem so freakin boring

Why am I so fascinated with it? I honestly don’t know. I’d like to think it’s because I’d like to help everyone that is fighting with something tragic or damaging or so horrifyingly embarrassing that they can’t tell anyone else specifically, but can tell the world in general.

Anyway, take a look.

What influences you?

The one thing I have noticed is that when I don’t exercise, I am a serious grump. When I am a serious grump, I have a tendency to emulate and almost enhance the negativity around me. If someone’s cursing or just being generally negative, I have a tendency to do the same and make the group energy pretty bleak.

Then I go to my aikido class, and I feel better. Why?

I figured out a long time ago, that when I physically feel bad, my mental and emotional state is likewise affected(or is it effected? know what? I don’t care). I was feeling a bit of selfpity, a bit of blackness, projecting my negative thoughts into situations to paint the bleak picture instead of being rational and realizing it’s all me projecting.

Wasn’t having a great week last week, not sleeping enough, frustrated, blah…Realized I was in a bad place (sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t) and decided I would change my perspective. Just deciding doesn’t help, deciding to go to class and go to class helps.