The other day as I walked through my living room, I caught a part of an old episode of The Andy Griffith Show. This episode was one where Opie had broken a window at a neighbor's house and his Pa said it would cost him his allowance for a couple of weeks. There was another person in the scene and he asked why Pa was so rough on the boy, it was just a window. He wanted to know why he just didn't bail the boy out? Well, the Sheriff said if he bailed him out this time he would expect to be bailed out every time. How true!! This got me to thinking about my own childhood.
Growing up, I was one of five children. We all had chores to do that were compatible with our ages. My brother helped my dad with repair of the buildings and taking care of the farm, my older sister helped in the kitchen, my two younger sisters got little kid jobs at the skirt of my Mom. Me, I was the one that took care of the animals on the farm. And we all worked in the family garden. But back to my topic. We all got allowances each week, but if something happened like breaking something, we were responsible for it. There was no arguing about that. I value what I learned as a child and I think it has made me a very responsible person.
Too many children are given everything they ask for without learning the value of what they are getting. I see too many parents giving in to children's tantrums in the stores, just so they would not have to deal with them. Growing up, my siblings and I would have never dared make a scene in public! My Mom was not a crewel person, but she expected proper behavior. Discipline is a lost art when it comes to raising children these days. It has become confused with abuse, mostly by snotty nosed do-gooders who they themselves could have done with a spanking as a child. We had everything we needed, a nice house to live in and plenty of food for our bellies, and at Christmas time Santa Claus treated us well. But as a child, if the "crime" warranted it, I was spanked. More than anything, it broke my heart. But I learned from it, that whatever I had done was obviously not the right thing to be doing.
Being taught right from wrong and being made accountable as a child, has made me the adult I am today. I am not a perfect person, that does not exist. But I try to do my best everyday and treat people the way I want to be treated. I respect other people and their property, and if I want something, I work for the money to buy it. I do not steal what someone else has worked for. I make the money I have get me what I want, and if I don't have any money, then I need to work to earn more so I can get what I want.
My boyfriend is a perfect example of what I am talking about. He smokes cigarettes and drinks beer, but rarely has enough money to support his habits. So his mother buys it for him. He's 38 years old!! I like to have a beer too, but if I don't have the money I don't bum from other people for it. I make sure the bills are paid first and then play if there is any left over. One of my sisters is teaching her children to be responsible. They get cell phones, but if they go over their allotted minutes, it comes out of their allowance. They are allowed to have mostly what they want, but they work for it. This is the way children should be raised. Being accountable for what they do and what they want. I'm not saying a parent shouldn't be there to get their child out of a bad situation, but make them stand on their own two feet.
