{"id":1066,"date":"2010-09-27T01:46:00","date_gmt":"2010-09-27T01:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/days-252-and-253-harshness-vs-tenderness-in-raising-children\/"},"modified":"2015-06-05T14:16:01","modified_gmt":"2015-06-05T18:16:01","slug":"days-252-and-253-harshness-vs-tenderness-in-raising-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/days-252-and-253-harshness-vs-tenderness-in-raising-children\/","title":{"rendered":"days 252 and 253: harshness vs tenderness in raising children"},"content":{"rendered":"

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One of the stories that we especially enjoyed in Joe Wheeler\u2019s \u201cGreat Stories Remembered\u201d is about a man who was so harsh with his three children\u2014wouldn\u2019t let them cry, made fun of them if they were frightened, punished them severely for slight infractions, wouldn\u2019t let them be children, didn\u2019t spend any time with them, etc. This story is called \u201cThe Boy on the Running Board.\u201d* Today and tomorrow (though I don\u2019t want to divide up the post, so it will all appear here) I would like to share with you some excerpts from that story\u2014and some amazing parenting comparisons that I gleaned from it (during read-aloud with my kids!).<\/span>

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One day this rough father went to town to pay a bill (leaving a \u201cpunished\u201d son who was scheduled to go with him that day at home). While driving, this man ran over a turkey that its owner-family had named Henry Ward Beecher. <\/span>

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The stern man picked up one of the children (who owned the turkey) and took him to town since the boy was heading there to meet his father\u2019s train. The words this child spoke pierced the unkind father\u2019s heart\u2014as they should have. Even today as I re-read this story, I can hear the love and excitement in this little boy\u2019s voice. Oh, that we could all create this in our homes:<\/span>

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\u201cWe drew lots to see which\u2019d catch him an\u2019 which\u2019d cut off his {the turkey\u2019s} head. Celia was catching him. We picked out Henry Ward Beecher because he was the biggest. Mother said nothing was too big for Father!\u201d<\/span>

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\u201cFather\u2019s coming home! Today he\u2019s coming! Mother keeps singing every minute.\u201d<\/span>

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\u201cWell, I guess any mother\u2019d sing when she hadn\u2019t seen a father for four whole months. Father\u2019s a drummer, but he doesn\u2019t hardly ever drum so long at a time. He hasn\u2019t seen {the present we have for him\u2026.}.\u201d<\/span>

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\u201cWe\u2019re going to give {Father} a present of the baby! She\u2019s almost a month old. Mother\u2019s did her all up.\u201d<\/span>

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\u201cWe\u2019ve swept everything and dusted everything and cleared up everything \u2013and\u2014and\u2026.killed the rooster!\u201d <\/span>

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\u201cFather\u2019s train isn\u2019t till after dinner, but I thought I\u2019d go real early so\u2019s not to miss it.\u201d<\/span>

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\u201cI guess he\u2019ll think that\u2019s some muscle! Father will like that! And I can pitch ball better now; I\u2019ll give him some good ones, all right! We take turns pitching. Father\u2019s a southpaw. The Grant family\u2019s team is some team! Only, now that the baby\u2019s come, I don\u2019t know about Mother\u2019s being first base\u2026She\u2019s a good first-bagger! You ought to see her catch! Of course, it isn\u2019t a real \u2018nine,\u2019 but we manage. Celia\u2019s going to make a regular player. Are you on a team, Mister?\u201d<\/span>

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The boy continued: \u201cYes. \u201c{Do you have a} home team? You know, like us. If you haven\u2019t got any boys\u2026.You can\u2019t very well play ball without ANY boys! Father says it\u2019s lucky there\u2019s two men in our family. We\u2019re pals, me and Father.\u201d<\/span>

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(At this point, the man thought of his boys at home. He couldn\u2019t imagine calling his family \u201cteam.\u201d Even moreso, he couldn\u2019t imagine his being on their team, if his family did have one. Then pals? He could not fathom it.)<\/span>

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\u201cWhen father retires\u2026we\u2019re going to have the best time! Of course, we\u2019ll have to work like fun on the farm. That\u2019s it, like fun! When we hoe now, Father and me, we run races to the end of the row! Sometimes I beat him. And when Mother comes out and brings us something to drink, she kisses Father when I am not looking, and kisses me when Father isn\u2019t looking, but we always kind of see!\u201d<\/span>

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(The man asked the boy if he was afraid of his father\u2026)<\/span>

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\u201cOf Father, AFRAID? You couldn\u2019t be afraid of Father. I lied once. \u2018riginal sin, Mother said, was the matter with me. But I\u2019ve never had it since. You don\u2019t catch me being a mean skunk twice! We both cried, me and Father. Then Father held out his hand and said, \u2018Put it there,\u2019 and I put it there, and that was our contract. Like signing the pledge, Father said.\u201d<\/span>

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(The boy met the father at the train station\u2014and you can only guess the impact that this little boy had on the thoughtless man when he returned home later that day. You will have to get this book to discover the ending!)<\/span>

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I could read these parts of the story over and over\u2026and hear and feel the excitement of a little boy whose dad knew how to raise little boys\u2014how to love them, include them, play with them, work with them, forgive them, direct them, laugh with them, talk to them, and teach them. And then pray that Ray and I are all of that for our \u201clittle boys.\u201d<\/span>

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*This story may be found in Joe Wheeler\u2019s \u201cGreat Stories Remembered\u201d: https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Great-Stories-Remembered-Joe-Wheeler\/dp\/1561794597<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the stories that we especially enjoyed in Joe Wheeler\u2019s \u201cGreat Stories Remembered\u201d is about a man who was so harsh with his three children\u2014wouldn\u2019t let them cry, made fun of them if they were frightened, punished them severely for slight infractions, wouldn\u2019t let them be children, didn\u2019t spend any time with them, etc. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[643,281],"tags":[267,278,106,287,280,277,283,310,319],"yoast_head":"\ndays 252 and 253: harshness vs tenderness in raising children - Character Ink<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/days-252-and-253-harshness-vs-tenderness-in-raising-children\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"days 252 and 253: harshness vs tenderness in raising children - 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