Let’s get right to it. Examples of hypocrisy in action on the part of parents that do no favors to their children in the long run.
Telling your child to wait until marriage to have sex but you are having sex with your BF or GF while you are dating.
Telling your child that they shouldn’t drink but you drink like a sailor on leave.
Appearing to always be cheery and perky while hiding blue moments from everyone.
Telling your child to live by the golden rule but you gossip and malign others incessantly.
Telling your child it’s inner beauty that counts but you obsess over your looks.
Telling your child that money isn’t the most important thing in life, but acting as if it is, judging people on their perceived wealth.
So, what is the alternative, to show your kid what a jerk you are? No, the alternative is to work to integrate who you are….who you REALLY are, with what you teach your child. You don’t have to expose every flaw, you simply have to be the same person with the same beliefs in your whole life, not one life for you as an adult alone and another for you in front of your kids.
You may ask, why not be two different people? My kids don’t need to see that side of me. The point is, they WILL see that side of you, no matter what. They may not see it at age 5, but they will by 15. They will see your hypocrisy and it will teach them the lesson you don’t want to teach them, that integrity isn’t real and from within, it is just a charade you play to look acceptable on the outside. That is the lesson a child of hypocrisy learns. Then guess who they teach that lesson to?
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman
“The best brought-up children are those who have seen their parents as they are. Hypocrisy is not the parents’ first duty.” – George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish Playwright