by Joey Watkins

Dad, has your son or daughter ever done something that really upset you? Maybe made you question what you were doing "wrong" as a parent to have caused him or her to act a certain way or say a certain thing?

Here’s a recent example from my own family…

This past week, our family spent 9 hours together in a car driving home from a long trip. When we finally arrived, we were all rather tired and cranky.

While getting ready for bed, my two youngest children got into a spat over something very silly… as is usually the case when children argue.

They were fighting over our "drinking water."

My youngest son, who is only 5, was unwilling to drink the water that was available in our house because it was not "cold" due to our water cooler having been unplugged while we were away on our trip.

Can you believe that?!!

My first thought was something like…

"What a spoiled rotten brat! He should be grateful that we even have bottled spring water to begin with. He has no idea there are billions of children around the world who don’t even have clean drinking water — much less COLD clean spring water! He has no idea how good he has it!!!"

And with that, I proceeded to vent at both him and my wife, telling him to drink the water that WAS available, or else go to bed thirsty.

What a great response from Dad, eh?! I’m sure you’ve never done anything like this

The nerve of this "spoiled" little 5-year-old kid demanding **cold** water.

It’s now a few days later, and I just remembered a recent rant of my own when our family was in Florida last week.

I had walked into the kitchen to pour a glass of water, and there wasn’t any cold water available because no one remembered to refill the water pitcher we kept in the refrigerator.

And yes, my entire family heard this grown man… Dad… rant and blame his family for something so silly.

I think I owe my family an apology — and explain to my 5-year-old son that he and dad were both wrong and should be grateful for water whether it is cold or not.

It never ceases to amaze me how our children learn from the actions and words of their dad. Especially when dad is not in "teaching" mode.

R E S O U R C E S   for   D A D S

Revolutionary Parenting

by George Barna

Determined to learn the secrets of those who’ve raised spiritual champions, world-renowned researcher George Barna conducted a series of surveys and thousands of personal interviews with both young adults and their parents.