Bad Advice or Good Advice?
My father never gave me "that" talk. He avoided all that personal stuff like the plague. I don't remember him ever hugging me or even saying I love you, I am proud of you, or anything on a personal level. He never showed emotion unless it was anger. I don't count his happy moods when he had had a few too many.
When I was around 16 though he did give me what he considered good advice and at the time, being of that age, it kind of made sense. He told me "Never sleep with a woman unless you could see yourself married to her". Of course he wasn't talking about actually sleeping he was talking about "it". He couldn't even say that word. As a young boy of 16 it sounded pretty good but now that I am older and a father (ok and a grandfather too), I realize it was very bad advice. I mean what he said is true if you don't read into it. He meant to say that you may end up getting a girl pregnant if you have sex with her so she better be someone you could marry. But it also said "its ok to have premarital sex". Not exactly what a responsible parent should be telling their teenage son.
Some of his other great words of wisdom were:
Don't get married until you are 40.
Never invest in anything. It's too risky. Put your money in the bank.
Never loose a fight. If you find you are loosing, cheat. Pick up a baseball bat and even the score. There is no glory in getting the you know what kicked out of you.
Take two table spoons of butter before you go out to a party where you will be drinking. That way you can drink more. Yuck.
Never tell your mother more than you absolutely have to. Coincidentally, mom never gave me "any" advice.
No wonder I am so messed up. So what great words of wisdom did your parents give you? It had to be better than what I got.
Have a great day.
Greg
PS for better advice, go to http://www.biblegateway.com/
When I was around 16 though he did give me what he considered good advice and at the time, being of that age, it kind of made sense. He told me "Never sleep with a woman unless you could see yourself married to her". Of course he wasn't talking about actually sleeping he was talking about "it". He couldn't even say that word. As a young boy of 16 it sounded pretty good but now that I am older and a father (ok and a grandfather too), I realize it was very bad advice. I mean what he said is true if you don't read into it. He meant to say that you may end up getting a girl pregnant if you have sex with her so she better be someone you could marry. But it also said "its ok to have premarital sex". Not exactly what a responsible parent should be telling their teenage son.
Some of his other great words of wisdom were:
Don't get married until you are 40.
Never invest in anything. It's too risky. Put your money in the bank.
Never loose a fight. If you find you are loosing, cheat. Pick up a baseball bat and even the score. There is no glory in getting the you know what kicked out of you.
Take two table spoons of butter before you go out to a party where you will be drinking. That way you can drink more. Yuck.
Never tell your mother more than you absolutely have to. Coincidentally, mom never gave me "any" advice.
No wonder I am so messed up. So what great words of wisdom did your parents give you? It had to be better than what I got.
Have a great day.
Greg
PS for better advice, go to http://www.biblegateway.com/
Comments
PS: Love that website, I use it often!
Great post as usual Greg...You really pull things out of us, don't you.
:)
I can't remember one bit of advice, but I think that's more about my memory than anything else. Or maybe I just chose to forget.
Goodness - now I'm going to be rethinking everyhing I say to my three-year-old. :-) But I try to be honest with him without scaring him and I try to teach him to be kind and loving to people, animals, the Earth - to follow Jesus' example. I'm sure I'll screw up a lot more as he gets older, though.
That one I actually agree with--even as a mother! ;)
My parents never gave me any advice--I am self-educated and finally after 30 years, I think I've gotten the hang of things.
--snow
Greg...you do not at all seem messed up to me. You seem like a caring, decent, kind person who maybe needs to let go of the past as I try to do. I have to remind myself often that we all make our own choices in life and we don't have to let the past affect us. Peace be with you.
They told me...no sex before marriage...don't spend more than you earn....save save save....when you choose a man to marry make sure you consider what type of father he would make, respect your elders, read your Bible, and LOTS and LOTS of other things. I particularly remember a conversation with my DAD about quitting....NEVER Quit was his motto.
My parents have been married 60 years and have been wonderful role models. It took me about the first 35 years of my life to realize that. But better late than never.