An introduction to Four Lessons from My Three Sons
What this book can do for you, your kid, and your family
This is a short book for Dads and Moms who want to raise boys and girls who are consistently steadfast in conduct and character. It’s written by a father of three sons who has been around kids and their parents for two decades in every venue under the sun known to the American family.
The pages ahead provide an often whimsical and sometimes ruthless explanation of the parenting methods I employed in helping guide the behaviors and attitudes of my three sons during their childhoods and adolescence. There is nothing original in aiming to firmly instill in kids the basic, universal virtues – civility, confidence, resilience and ambition - that underscore a satisfied, accomplished life. Every one of us intuitively understands them because there’s nothing original in the human condition – all is learned from example and practice.
What is unusual is how I tried to - and mostly succeeded in - transmitting these virtues into the daily lives and patterns of my three sons.
Now, there’s one thing I urge you to do prior to reading onwards. I did this when my children were very young and continued to do it throughout their childhood and adolescence. It may sound odd but trust me here.
Take a very close look at your child now – who they are and what they are like, their personalities, strengths and weaknesses.
Use your mind, think hard. Take this seriously. Then get in a hypothetical time machine. Fast forward five years into the future and imagine what he or she will be like at that point if they continue with the habits and attitudes and behaviors they have at present. I did this – it’s an attempt to glimpse the long game from focusing on one moment in a kid’s life – and it is only the parent who can do it. Maybe this exercise provides you with a useful wake-up call.
Contained here are the fundamental steps you can take to raise alert, self-assured and motivated young girls and boys.
Grasp and model and continually practice the ideas you find here and I promise you: You can raise the child you want, one who brings both of you joy and satisfaction....
Next Up: How it all began...
