Respect

I was not going to post tonight but I just had a conversation that got me, well, a little worked up.  I need to talk about respect!  Everyone wants people to respect them, but not everyone gives respect.  This is common in all walks of life, from work to play. 

But I need to talk respect among family!!  How can anyone not respect their elders, or parents, or care takers?  Let me tell you how; the elders, or parents, or care takers don't give respect.  Now in my immediate family there is a lot of respect;  I respect my parents, siblings, kids, and definitely my wife and I get that respect back.  Don't get me wrong we have our disagreements and heated discussions, but in the end its all good.  However there are families out there who don't have the respect for each other.  Parents or grandparents wonder why they don't get the respect they deserve from their kids or grandkids.  That would be a good question for some families but for others it is plain as day; when you do nothing but yell and criticize and degrade your kids or grandkids and even physically abuse them, you are not going to get a good result.  I don't condone kids striking a parent or grandparent but sooner or later if all the kids get is the yelling, criticism, degrading and physical abuse, they are going to boil over.

There are some overall good kids that have not have the chance to bloom because of the way they have been raised.  The sad thing is the kids will be affected for the rest of their life, but hopefully, by some small miracle they will turn their lives around and be better parents then their own are.

The bottom line is you get what you deserve.  If you don't give the respect you will not get it back.  You treat people like they are no good, they are going to be that way to you.  Don't be surprised when they strike back and treat you the way you treat them.  You hit them and sooner or later they will hit back. And guess what, it is you fault, you got what you deserve.

Treat your kids with respect!  You can teach and discipline your kids and still show them respect.  Your kids are your future, and they are your family; if you continue to treat your family with no respect then one day you will be a lonely grumpy old person that no one cares about.
But hey, that's just my opinion.