Personally, I think it is also doing the children a disservice to raise them with any expectations of them other than respect and hard work as a norm.

I look at my mom's family and see a father (my grandfather) who was poor as a churchmouse (a dirt farmer) but highly respected in the church community. I then look at his children and see among them a highly successful cabinetmaker who built his own house, a retired police officer of impeccable repute, a man working as a commercial engineer on mine and oil rig sites all over Australia (who never went to a day of school past 12th grade) and two daughters who married men who have stood as elders and are both successful in their careers. To me, much of this blossoming is planting in the fertile ground prepared by my grandfather. He cared passionately about his children's behaviour and taught them that hard work is a simple expectation, not a burst of energy every now and then when you feel like it.

Jay, I'd love to meet your son some day, he sounds like a fine young man.

__________________
Kevin
Far East
Deacon, Int'l Church