Mark Bishop
Singing News Article
February 2008
Carolyn and I have two daughters,
ages nine and sixteen. I couldn't imagine loving anyone anymore
than I love these three human beings. Carolyn and I will be
celebrating our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary later this year.
She is the love of my life. Happy Valentine's Day Carolyn!
Our two daughters, Courtney and Haley, give us so much joy. We
love them both very much. We love them though we cannot always
understand them. We love them even though sometimes they seem to
be from somewhere other than planet Earth. It's true. Carolyn and
I are living with two aliens. I'm sure though that they think the
same thing of us. This is just the way it has always been with
parents and their children. It's called the generation gap.
The generation gap is a naturally occurring phenomenon. My wife
and I are experiencing the generation gap right now with our own
girls. It happens no matter how "hip" and "cool" you try to be. As
a matter of fact, if you use the words "hip" and "cool" these
days, you are already neither one. We know this to be true because
our kids laugh at us when we use them. Being laughed at is the
first clue that you are not cool. Oops... I said it again.
A long time ago, Carolyn and I decided that we were not going to
try to be our children's "best buddies" like a lot of new parents
were trending. Those parents may score higher on the "cool" meter,
but in most observable cases, it seemed to us like the child was
the one steering the boat. Sometimes, right into shallow water.
No, we decided that our girls could make their own friends. What
we wanted to be were parents. Sometimes, being the best parent
will not at all endear you to your child. Sometimes, the parent
has to be the bad guy. Sometimes, being the bad guy is the best
way to show your love.
Now I realize that many of you reading this have already raised
your children and have sent them off into the world. While a
parent's job is never really finished and done, for the most part,
the years your children spend under your roof are the critical
ones. These are the days when they are formed into the people they
will become for the rest of their lives.
Let me tell you though, the times, they've been a changin'...
While our kids have endless possibilities before them, they also
face more potential danger. As a kid growing up, I didn't have to
worry about guns at school or online predators. They see so much
of the world at such an early age. They really do need parents,
not buddies, to help them sort it all out.
This is my Valentine's gift to my children and my wife. To be the
best husband, to be the best parent, that I can.
So When I'm talking to Courtney at the dinner table and she keeps
responding "uh huh... yeah...", all the while she's texting her
friend, "GTR...POS...BRB...CYA..." , well, I'll be the bad guy...
I mean parent, and say "Not at this dinner table". (By the way,
for those of you who can't speak teenage alien, that translates to
"Got to run, parents over shoulder, be right back, see ya.")
Kids can have lots of pals, friends and buddies. But it's a
special job to be the parent.
That way, if any real aliens happen to show up one day and they
say to my kids "Take me to your leader". My girls will know who to
take them to.
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