| In
Praise Of Parents: It’s Tradition!
by
Dr. Carole G. Hankin with Randi T. Sachs
This
month and last month, we honor the most important people in a
child’s life: mom and dad. Many of us follow long-time traditions
on how to spend the day. If you are the parent of a child you
may have challenge of maintaining traditions you’ve kept in honoring
your own parents and helping your children become involved in
their owns traditions of showing their own appreciation.
But at this time of year, it’s also worthwhile to look at how
some traditions in parenting have changed, and how these changes
have helped to improve the lives of all family members. It’s also
important to acknowledge that traditional roles of “mom” and “dad”
can be successfully filled in all types of families.
“Traditionally,”
it’s the mother who has primary responsibility for managing the
children’s lives. She maintains the balance between time spent
on schoolwork, family time, social activities, and outside interests
such as sports, music lessons, religion, and more. But progress
is definitely being made to include Dad in the planning and the
management of the varied lives we all lead as family members.
It’s no longer unusual to have fathers attend PTA meetings and
to make sure they are present at all teacher conferences. Fathers
are getting and staying involved in their children’s lives. Many
years ago, it was notable that my husband was the “class father,”
but today he would probably not be the only dad serving cupcakes
at the holiday party.
As parents, you are your children’s first and ever-constant teachers.
You teach your children actively by reading with them, helping
with schoolwork, taking them with you on daily errands, and giving
them cultural and educational experiences such as travel, museums,
zoos, and even family gatherings. By example, you teach your children
how to behave, how to interact with others, the values and beliefs
you hold, and the expectations and hopes that you have for them
and their futures.
It’s certainly not easy to be a parent today. It seems that our
children are continually facing tough choices and having to learn
and absorb so much information. We can’t know the answers to everything,
but we can provide the one thing that has proved the test of time.
Parents love their children, and by expressing and demonstrating
that love through both word and action we give our children the
strength and support they need to grow and make their own decisions.
Parents know that the love they have for their children is incomparable
to any other bond. How many times have you looked at your child
and thought, “Can he possibly know how much I love him?” I don’t
think children really can understand. That is, not until they
become parents themselves. As a grandmother of seven, I’ve seen
the love come full circle.#
Dr.
Hankin is superintendent of Syosset Central School District. Randi
Sachs is Public Information Officer of Syosset Schools.
Education
Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001.
Tel: (212) 481-5519. Fax: (212) 481-3919.Email: ednews1@aol.com.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express
consent of the publisher. © 2003.
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