Jon had a father that was a colonel in the Marine Corps. He not only grew up responding to his father's requests with a strong,
"Yes Sir"
but he referred to his father as "Father".
I, on the other hand, grew up saying,
"Yeah" and "Uh-huh"
until we moved to Memphis, Tennessee when I was fifteen. In my high school if you used such sloppy phrases there were the wide-eyed teachers that moved in real close to your face and asked,
"Excuse me?" to which I would quickly correct myself with a,
"Yes Ma'am."
The southern way was good for me.
Rachel, Carly, Jenna, Shane and Cassie learned early on that that was how they were to respond to instructions that were given. It was really strange to me at the beginning since I only responded that way to strangers in my life, but it soon became as important to me as teaching them to say, "Thank you" and "You're welcome" or "Please."
Shane just told me that he is so glad that we have asked that of him. He said,
" I am so glad that I grew up in this home and happy that you asked us to show you respect."
Apparently he sees others who don't understand what it means to respect parents. The beauty of the whole process is that I respect him for his efforts and ultimately, and really best of all, he comes to respect himself as someone who holds himself to a higher standard.
2 comments:
Teachers have called and told me how much they appreciate the respect they are shown by David and Sarah. People try to tell me that we raised them right. We just laid the foundation with the help of the principles of the gospel. They both will tell you that it's more rewarding to be respectful than not. I appreciate their example they set for others around them.
Different times...I grew up in Texas and you held the door open for someone walking in. You said thank you and pardon me miss. In class you didn't talk unless you raised your hand. I miss southern hospitality. I love how if you are at the store anyone will just add to your conversation with out being offensive.
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