Dear HCCUA Members:

There’s a tough conversation facing parents who truly care about what their children are learning from them. It’s easily dodged and rationalized as something better addressed at another time, and too easily hidden beneath a surface appearance of propriety and health. It’s the antithesis of what our parents often said to us – do as I say, not as I do – which today has been exposed as a Clintonesque deflection of responsibility stemming from ignorance and, perhaps, an unencumbered selfishness. Nobody expects parents to be perfect. In fact, the way parents address their own imperfections can effectively model desired behavior and values for children. But when parents stick to their faulty guns with the stubborn resolve of an addict, or worse, if they fail to recognize the insidious little ways their own choices are poisoning the perceptions of their children, they are coming up short on their report card of parental effectiveness. These parents need a wakeup call, because the window of opportunity to make lasting impressions on our children is short and closing fast, and the bad impressions are every bit as enduring as the good ones.