Love and Logic
I can never pass up an opportunity to brag about my dad, Jim Fay. He has always been, and still is, the strongest and most loving man in my life.
As we were growing up, my sisters and I quickly learned that his word was always gold. Strong and loving dads help their children grow to become strong and loving adults. My dad taught us four important parenting lessons that I cherish and will never forget.
My love for you is permanent and impervious.
While I spent many hours making restitution for my blunders, I never found myself wondering how I stood in my dad’s eyes. This has held constant over my lifetime, even when my mistakes were very serious and would severely test any parent’s patience and understanding.
I love you enough to keep my promises.
A loving father never promises anything to his kids unless he is absolutely certain he can provide it. Neither would he set a limit without being one hundred percent sure he could enforce it. Keeping promises and enforcing limits builds trust and gives kids a sense of safety.
By mastering my anger, I will show you how to be a strong person.
I sometimes find myself too quickly riled by small things done by others. The first step in mastering any problem is to admit that you have it. When we are challenged by our own anger, it’s very healthy to say to a child, “I’m really angry about this. I’m going to have to do something about it. We’ll talk later. I make better decisions when I’m calm.”
Search for humility.
The messages that are being sent to youth about themselves versus others are possibly the greatest challenge facing our society. Too many young people are being convinced that showing off is more important than showing consideration and respect. Because of the trap of feeling superior about being humble, great people never consider themselves to have found humility. They just keep searching, and thus show their children what it truly looks like.
Our classic audio, Four Steps to Responsibility, provides guidelines that can help all parents raise children who know how to make responsible decisions and who will grow up to become strong and loving adults.
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