NorthDallas40
Displaced Hillbilly
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2014
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So weve covered corporal punishment and the ruthless nature of my (dearly beloved and missed daily) mother.
Now lets switch gears to active parenting and accountability.
My father was retired career military. Enlisted grade E8 in USAF/SAC. But he was not a terse or stern or strict disciplinarian man. He was a disciplinarian but not overtly. And he was a kind warm and gentle man also.
Late in my teenager years we were watching a History Channel show on the Vietnam War and Canada and draft dodging eventually came up.
I being an idiot brash teenager flippantly made a remark about how I would have gone to Canada too screw that! Please review two paragraphs above before continuing.
I was never stood at attention in my life. It wasnt required. Rarely did discipline resort to me giving yes sir no sir answers.
My father upon hearing my remark turned and looked for a bit. He asked for no expanding information I think he was just gathering his thoughts.
The first life lesson topic covered the expected rules of behavior for any individual living under his roof. If I didnt like it I could leave. If I chose to stay then abide.
The next life topic covered the history of our country, how it was worth defending, and the nature of defense of our country by a largely civilian military. We did not dwell in the specific topic of the draft or Vietnam it was not relevant to his point and frankly he didnt care what I thought at that moment.
The final life topic were the expectations of what his male children (three of us) would do with regard to the common defense of our great nation of called upon and how we would conduct ourselves in general in peace time.
I did not stand at attention. But I did sit rigidly straight and looked him in the eye. My answers were yes sir no sir I dont know sir. I was not permitted to look away.
Years later I brought that discussion up. He claimed to have no recollection of it. No idea if that was really the case or not. But it didnt matter as it was my lesson and it stuck and I tried to hold up my end of the bargain over the years.
Now lets switch gears to active parenting and accountability.
My father was retired career military. Enlisted grade E8 in USAF/SAC. But he was not a terse or stern or strict disciplinarian man. He was a disciplinarian but not overtly. And he was a kind warm and gentle man also.
Late in my teenager years we were watching a History Channel show on the Vietnam War and Canada and draft dodging eventually came up.
I being an idiot brash teenager flippantly made a remark about how I would have gone to Canada too screw that! Please review two paragraphs above before continuing.
I was never stood at attention in my life. It wasnt required. Rarely did discipline resort to me giving yes sir no sir answers.
My father upon hearing my remark turned and looked for a bit. He asked for no expanding information I think he was just gathering his thoughts.
The first life lesson topic covered the expected rules of behavior for any individual living under his roof. If I didnt like it I could leave. If I chose to stay then abide.
The next life topic covered the history of our country, how it was worth defending, and the nature of defense of our country by a largely civilian military. We did not dwell in the specific topic of the draft or Vietnam it was not relevant to his point and frankly he didnt care what I thought at that moment.
The final life topic were the expectations of what his male children (three of us) would do with regard to the common defense of our great nation of called upon and how we would conduct ourselves in general in peace time.
I did not stand at attention. But I did sit rigidly straight and looked him in the eye. My answers were yes sir no sir I dont know sir. I was not permitted to look away.
Years later I brought that discussion up. He claimed to have no recollection of it. No idea if that was really the case or not. But it didnt matter as it was my lesson and it stuck and I tried to hold up my end of the bargain over the years.
