In honor of Santa - Truths our parents told us

[demnan]

My mother started reading dinosaur books and evolution books to us when we were preschool age. By 5 I knew what a trilobite was. I also knew there was a universe, stars and a world larger than our neighborhood.

As to religion, my mother let me decide. And she supported my political views even when they were opposite of hers. She would drive me at age 14 to campaign for McGovern even though she voted for Nixon (and later she told me I was right).

My mother never pressured me about not getting married, never tried to tell me I couldn't do something I set out to do.

For a copy cat thread, this is getting long! ;)

[WinnieBago]

1. scary

I think parents can be the most hazardous waste in a child life. My mother really messed me up and dad taught how to hate many types of people.

[skygazer]

2. I was born in 1961

My parents never differentiated between their sons and daughters. We were always encouraged to dream and to aspire to do anything we wanted to. I loved the outdoors and my dad taught me to use tools, to build, to track animals, to do a lot of things that were traditionally thought of as "boy" things.

When I was 14, we got a new horse and I was supposed to ride him home - about 20 miles. When we got there, this horse was pretty wild and hard to handle. The other guys who were hanging around told my dad that ALL of them had been thrown by this horse and asked him, "You're going to let that little girl ride him all the way to your place? By herself?"

He said, "Oh, yes. She can do it." He always had perfect faith in me.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

3. You're the reincarnation of Alexander the Great

And your horse was Bucephalus.

[skygazer]

5. Well, he wasn't THAT wild

And those guys knew nothing about horses which was why he was so tough to handle - he'd been mishandled. But I was only a kid and it was a long way to go. Having a father of that era place so much confidence in a girl was pretty special.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

4. my father said it was better to be an atheist than to pretend to believe

or use God as an excuse. he is a devout hindu!

he was also a feminist (atleast when it came to his daughter)

[Misunderestimator]

6. Cool dad you have! Mine told me there was no Santa Claus...

So I always knew that lump of coal came from my Dad. :)

[La Lioness Priyanka]

10. my dad is cool! hes also not homophobic esp if you consider

that he was born in teh 50's, has lived all his life in a fairly conservative family!

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

8. My Dad used to say, "A Dios rogando y con el mazo dando"

whenever Mom would say how we should pray for this and that.

Also, while we were watching an episode of "Dallas": JR Ewing (the soap's villain) was arranging a marriage to his benefit (some inheritance juggling if I remember right). It turns out the groom was gay, and says JR he can't go on with this because it wouldn't be fair to the bride. JR starts strongarming in his sleazy way, but the guy resists and thwarts JR's evil plan.

So Dad turns to me and says, "see, this gay man is more of a man than JR." It was his unconventional way (aided by the damn librul media) of innoculating me against bigotry.

This was Brazil. Late 70's. I was 13 or 14. And my Dad was born in 1913. WW1 hadn't started yet.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

11. hmm...what does that mean?

A Dios rogando y con el mazo dando

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

14. "Praying to God while hitting with the hammer" (nt)

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

15. But Hindus don't believe followers of other religions are doomed like

radical Christians and Muslims do, do they? Sorry, I am almost completely ignorant about Hinduism.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

16. no they dont

[ET Awful]

7. Probably one of the wisest things my dad said to me he stole

from someone else (Twain I think). . .

Whether you think you can, or you can't, you're right.

Basically, he taught us to eliminate "can't" from our thought process whenever we attempted something.

My mom was never much for handing down wisdom when we were kids, it just wasn't her style. She was better at showing us how to live right by caring for others as much or moreso than ourselves.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

9. ahh self fulfilling prophesies!

[ET Awful]

12. Bingo. n/t

[dean_dem]

13. Truth my father once told me: "People are no damn good."