Posted by
Zentrist on Wednesday, May 13, 2009 11:00:35 PM
Today I really enjoyed reading Marybeth Hicks on her daughter's "standing out from the pack." The word, "maverick," I don't think, was used in the article. But Betsy appears to be a young maverick in the McCain mold. More accurately put, she's a young person who has been allowed, encouraged...to think for herself. Bravo! I compliment Mrs. Hicks, her husband and the entire family. From that article I went to one Ms. Hicks wrote on January 21, 2009. In that article, older sister, Amy, is hoping Dad will run for president someday; that way, maybe she will get a chance to meet the Jonas Brothers. I don't know much about these guys, but I'm positive they are of considerable interest. Maybe I'll ask my step-son, or my wife--who likes some of the same stuff her nineteen-year-old likes. Be that as it may, again, I want to sing the praises of the Hicks Family in general and Mrs. Hicks in particular for sharing just how it is one might go about providing a decent education for kids in our time.
This leads right into an important part of Mr. Prager's show I listened to today. One of the bad habits in our culture that is decidedly non-educational for our children--is the constant criticism going on between the parents. One caller admitted that, after twenty-one years of marriage, this was still an occasional issue. Listeners like me are thinking, "I can in certain ways relate to this issue."
A long time ago a teacher was discussing Shakespeare's "Coriolanus." This particular Roman hero as portrayed in Shakespeare apparently grew up without the kind of example that Marybeth Hicks and her husband provide their children: conversation and dialogue. I'll never forget this professor's comments. I plan to reread that great play. I also plan to tune in to Dennis Prager, especially the Male-Female-Hour. Talk about educational! This is what it's all about! Conversation. Giving compliments, not harsh or even hateful criticisms.
Our nineteen-year-old is not at home; but he is not at college either. He's in what I'd call the School of Hard Knocks. He's on his own. That was his choice, but he really did not have that many other choices. His father left when he was six or seven. Dennis talked about the D-word, divorce. I know that this is the hardest thing that anyone can go through. And the kid(s) get the worst of it.
Thanks to the good examples set by the Hicks's, by Dennis Prager, and by my still-happily-married former teacher, maybe the D-word will never be an issue for some of us lucky souls. But if it already has become a "been there and done that," I still recommend the Prager show, the Hicks column, and, what the heck, the Bard himself. Starting with the "Comedy of Errors," he shows us precisely how NOT to have a marriage and a family. That is, until the very end of that early comedy.