Just An Hour

Wisdom Nugget: "Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you."

                                                                                    - H. Jackson Brown Jnr.

Photo credit: photopin

Isn't it funny how that with the advancement in technology and deep into the heart of the 21st century craze, many hitherto important or rather very important things have been pushed so far down the "priorities" list that either they are no longer relevant or altogether not important. It's funny how that now it has become the norm for parents to delegate their parental responsibilities to nannies, barely having time for their children anymore. Children are the leaders of tomorrow. But how can that be if the right moral values are not inculcated in them by those who are supposed to do so?

 "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it" The level of decay and moral decadence in our society today cannot be over emphasized due to parents' absence from the day-to-day running of their children's lives all in the name of "providing for the family". Attempting to replace quality time and availability with "presents" instead of their "presence". If a survey were carried out with children I bet you it'll be amazing to discover how many children would chose hanging out with their parents over receiving presents from them.

Late one night, father was trying to finish some leftover work from the office. His son came and asked, "Daddy, may I ask you a something?" Father said, "Yeah sure, what's it son?" "Dad, how much do you make an hour?" Father very surprised and stunned, said to his son, "why do you ask such a thing?" "I just want to know, please tell me," pleaded the son. "Ok, I make $500 per hour". "Oh, ok. Dad, may I please borrow $200?" Slightly irritated by his sons' distraction, he replied, "If the reason you asked about my pay is so that you can ask for some toy, then march back to bed. I work hard every day so that you can get all the toys you'll ever need. You don't have to borrow from me to buy any toys" The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. "What kind of toy would that be" the father thought. "Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $200 because he doesn't ask for money very often!" The man went to the door of little boy's room and opened it. "Are you asleep, son?" He asked. "No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy. Sitting on his sons' bed, he said "here's the $200 you asked for". The little boy sat straight up, smiling "oh thank you daddy!" he smiled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled some crippled up notes. Seeing that the boy already had money, he became puzzled. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at his father, with innocence in his eyes and that yearning for a fatherly presence in his daily life. Handing over the money, he said, "Daddy I have $500 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you".

Parents train up your children in the way they should go, so that when they are old they will not turn from it" we need to learn to make "being there" for our children a top priority, as that's one of our major assignments as parents. Life is all about making priorities, and family is one and only priority on top of all others, so spend all the time you can with your children.