Correct me if I am wrong, or throw a big hallelujah my way if you agree, but more often than not anymore I find I skip over the country station, it's just not what it used to be! Pretty sad as I have been listening to country music as long as I can remember. Some of my first memories involve riding around in my mom's 1975 or 76 (maybe?) Cutlass. Mom would drive and my big brother would be in the passenger seat, but I was the baby, my seat was the arm rest that came down in the middle, and we would all three be singing "Heavens Just a Sin Away" by the Kendalls or some great George Jones tune. I miss great old songs like that! And singing with Mom is what developed the love of singing that I hold to so dearly today.
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| My big brother and I |
But yesterday as my finger just kept skipping trying to find something country worth hearing, I hear the word "Automatic". ......
"Hey, whatever happened to waitin' your turn
Doing it all by hand,
'Cause when everything is handed to you
It's only worth as much as the time put in
It all just seemed so good the way we had it
Back before everything became automatic"*
Doing it all by hand,
'Cause when everything is handed to you
It's only worth as much as the time put in
It all just seemed so good the way we had it
Back before everything became automatic"*
I am of the age where I remember the "old" way of doing things. And my parents, they grew up tough, in a place where things were made even tougher, so they grew up on "super-automatic". Nothing was handed to them, and they did everything by hand, and I mean everything. I am only 42 years old, but I remember going to my Dad's mothers house in the 70's and she would still be in the basement hand-cranking her laundry through this contraption that looked nothing like anything I had ever seen before. They had farm work or work around the house that had to be done before they could even begin their walk to school. And I have been to the place they were blessed to call their childhood home folks, it literally was two miles uphill both ways in the snow! Compared to the way my folks grew up, they spoiled me rotten.
But one thing they taught me was that NOTHING was automatic. They brought me up the old fashioned way and I will be eternally grateful. Good behavior was not rewarded. This seems to be a newer phenomenon in the world of child-rearing. I was EXPECTED to behave. Of all of the many traits my parents passed on I think it is this one I appreciate the most. From them, I learned to teach my kids that when we walk into peoples houses, you behave, you don't touch things on people's tables, you say please and thank you, and you stay quiet until someone talks to you. Have you ever gone into someones house and noticed that they have taken all of their knick knacks off of a table because they were expecting you to bring your child over and they knew your child would mess up all of their stuff? This is the "automatic phenomenon" because the child "automatically" thinks they should be able to touch everything. It's just a thought, but maybe they could be taught NOT to touch the things on the table because it is not AUTOMATIC that the child should just get to do whatever he wants to do. After all, when they grow up and enter the real world, how will we have served them as parents if we have taught them that they can automatically just do anything they want to do?
Do kids know how to wait anymore? My parents taught me to wait, and trust me, I fought it and I didn't always like it, but when I hit the real world running, that lesson sure came in handy! Thanks Mom and Dad!!!! And did I mention, even with that I was still spoiled? My parents put clothes on my back, they bought me my first car, they sent me to college. Way, way easier life than either of them had ever had, and yet they were still able to teach me discipline and that everything was not automatic.
They are called "The Good Old Days" for a reason. It is more important than ever that we be vigilant with our children. In today's world, they get everything instantly and "fairness" has overtaken our schools. It used to be that if a child stood out due to their good behavior, good grades, or good deeds, they could rightfully be acknowledged for that, but those days are gone because it isn't fair to the children who don't earn these things. We have been in schools where the teachers actually meet before the end of the year awards ceremonies to be certain that each and every child receives an award. This teaches the children that the awards are automatic and to me, belittles the children who worked so hard to earn those very awards.
So I will work hard to continue to instill the traits in my children that my parents instilled in me, because, when someone looks at me at says my children are really well behaved, I give the glory to God, for giving me the children to begin with and the credit to my parents, for teaching me that everything was NOT automatic! I was able to pass that down and I pray my children will pass it down for generations to come as one of the greatest gift their Mamaw and Papaw ever gave them:) The first greatest gift their Mamaw and Papaw ever gave them is in the song too...
"Staying married was the only way to work your problems out"
But you will have to stay tuned for that one, as Monday is their 49th wedding anniversary and I can't think of a better time to do a marriage post than on my parents 49th anniversary ;-) Til next time, God Bless and Love Everyone!!!!
*lyrics and song by Miranda Lambert
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