Well, then my four-year-old said a four-letter word
That started with s and I was concerned
So I said, son, now where did you learn to talk like that?
Watching You – Rodney Atkins
Atkins second number-one song on the Billboard country charts, Watching You, ended up the top country song in the year-end chart for 2007. Atkins wrote the song after his son, Elijah, had been singing his song, If Youre Going Through Hell, in the classrooms at school. He had to have a talk with his son about the appropriateness of the song in a preschool.
The song remains one of Atkins most highly requested songs on tour, and he released an updated version of the song this year with his now-grown son singing the choruses that exploded across country music social media.
The updated version does give us a glimpse of how the things that Atkins hoped his son was picking up from him turned out, but often, we dont get that update.
As a father, Ive become more and more aware of what I say and do around my children (and a house full of daycare children as well) as they quickly can pick up my tone, my attitude, and often my words and vocal and physical demeanor. If that isnt something Id like to see them taking to school or for a daycare child to take home to his/her parents, I need to keep myself in check.
As the oldest of four boys growing up, my parents emphasized to be the example for them in my choices. I certainly made my mistakes, but at that point, the example was to make amends and take ownership of my fault in whatever happened.
Now, as a father, I am imploring my eldest daughter to be an example for her younger sisters and for my younger daughters to be an example for the daycare kids.
Perhaps someone should make be an example part of the oath that an elected official at any level has to agree to uphold. Unfortunately, both statewide and nationally, were seeing elected officials who are more concerned with serving a particular agenda, a particular financial backer or simply seeking the spotlight through dismissing and mistreating a particular portion of the population.
Weve talked in this space before about the fallacy of zero-sum thinking, a belief that for you to succeed, someone else must need to fail. Forcing that failure upon them would then more quickly bring about your success, right?
As we reach a point where the least of these who Jesus implored his followers to protect and care for are losing vital funds, the comments from those who proclaim themselves to be Christian are ringing especially hollow. Heck, the USDA, the agency that administers the food assistance program (SNAP), has taken to utilizing partisan rhetoric on its governmental website to blame one party for no federal distribution of funds on November 1 when finances were shifted to keep certain other programs and groups that are politically advantageous (for instance, paying military members) up and running.
Of the top ten states in the percentage of residents receiving SNAP benefits, six voted for Donald Trump in 2024, and there is really no red or blue among the states at any point of the list. Three out of the bottom five in percentage of SNAP benefits also went with Trump. The point being that the 41+ million people relying on the program arent solely in one particular political group, as there is at least five percent of the population actively receiving SNAP in every single state and Washington, D.C.
That doesnt even get into the horrific display of common respect and courtesy that weve seen from leaders from Trump to Karoline Leavitt to Gavin Newsom, all utilizing language and phrasing that would earn a schoolyard bully detention, but has been championed by their respective political alliances.
As we come to the end of Red Ribbon Week to discuss with children the dangers of drugs and alcohol, and the end of National Bullying Awareness Month, we understand the impact that behaviors learned at home have on both a childs behavior toward classmates and his/her willingness to abuse drugs and alcohol.
Maybe its time to consider what we tolerate from our elected officials and their lack of respect for one another. When we see and hear that level of disrespect for fellow human beings, its time to make changes, whether thats at the state or national level.
Our children are watching us, and what we tolerate from our leaders is what theyll tolerate as well.
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