I’m nothing if not cheerfully self-appreciative, so it will come as no surprise to those who know me that I think I will make a very good parent. I used to wonder, fleetingly, if I would be a good parent, but I quickly realized that of course I would and there is one main reason for this:
I have a degree in Parenthood.
Most of us do, and we just don’t realize it. I have studied parenthood from the perspective of a son for the last 37 years. And let me say for the record that I have had excellent teachers. It seems to me, therefore, that any time I’m stuck for what to do, all I have to do is flip back through my tenacious memory and ask, “What did Mom or Dad do with me in this situation?” There can be no finer example than that set by my folks, and so of course, that seems like the natural place to start. This doesn’t mean I will do things exactly how my parents did them. After all, we grow up to become our own person. I’m sure that my folks didn’t raise us exactly how their parents did (otherwise, I would still be sitting at some long lost dinner table with uneaten food on my plate). We all have our quirks, and we also seek to improve upon what we learn. Nevertheless, how my parents raised me (and Doug and Jen) serves as an excellent atlas for navigating the parental world.
Originally published at From the Desk of Jamie Todd Rubin. You can comment here or there.
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