“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” ~Proverbs 22: 6
For some, it may sound a little archaic and King James-y when you put it like that, but a dad named Brad Kearns is bringing Proverbs 22:6 to 2016 in a practical way that could truly revolutionize the way you think about raising your child.
On his DadMum Facebook page, Brad shared this charming photo of his 3-year-old son along with a powerful message to fathers about raising their boys to treat women right—by showing, not just telling.
It reads:
He’s starting to copy me when I do things. He loves his daddy, he wants to be like me.
When I tickle his mum, he tickles her too.
When I wink at her, he winks too.
When I blow raspberries, he blows raspberries too.
When I wrestle her, he does too.
Once I playfully smacked her on the bum. He smacked her on the bum too.He watches when I touch her. He listens when I speak to her. He treats her how I treat her. If I respect her, he will respect her. It’s a huge responsibility I can’t ever [screw] up.
We need to teach our boys how to treat women from day one.
Facebook/DadMum
It’s easy to assume that our adult actions go unnoticed and that a 3-year-old couldn’t possibly be picking up on our habits, but little ones are more in tune to detail and nuance than we often realize.