My kids teach me more than I teach them. Their unbiased, see-threw-all bs judgment is a constant revelation.

To stay out of my stash

The difference between right and wrong. When he was about 14, I became suddenly aware that my youngest son was becoming involved in drugs at school. My reaction was swift- I pulled him out of school that day and called the local police and asked them to search our house and arrest him. Then we home schooled him for the next three years. At the time my wife and I wern't sure we were doing the right thing and how it would turn out- it was uncharted ground and not covered in most parenting books. But that reaction, hard as it was at the time, was the right one.

In the end it turned out well- he is now 26, healthy, and a junior in mechanical engineering, having gone to the local community college to get the grades and credentials he needed to get into engineering school.

Raising kids is tough. You have to be prepared to do lot's of things you never planned on to get them into the second decade alive and healthy. The key is to get them there no matter what it takes.

If you never lie you don't have to remember what you said.

Don't compromise yourself to something that is against your ideals. Stick to what you know is the right thing.

Always give your best so you have no regrets.

Words can cut and scar for life, actual wounds heal.

Your family is and always will be the most important thing in your life.

Your word is your honor, never lose it.

Do it right the first time and you should not have to redo it for a long time if ever.

Have fun!! You are a kid dang it, and I'm not growing up either.

Don't lie. So far, my kids (9 and 6) have not yet lied to us, or tried to.

Be kind to other people. Kids are this way naturally, I believe.

Read, draw, and build things.

Ask permission to interrupt, when adults are speaking.

Clean your room. Now we have to work on clean your room without being told to do so.

Don't let me finish counting to three. It's pretty impressive, I never have had to count past two.

Don't touch Daddy's guns. Yes, the guns are locked up as well.

Don't eat or drink in the Porsche. Water is okay, but spill it on yourself.

Be gentle with animals. Keep it up, and someday you will graduate from a pet rat.

When you get yourself ice cream, or candy, or a toy, you must get one for your brother/sister. They get along better than any pair of siblings I know.

Macs are better than PCs.

Oh yes..one more thing I will teach my children..
"If a man speaks of his honor, make him pay cash"