Skip to main content

Candid Confessions of An Imperfect Parent


When I listen to sports talk radio, I sometimes forget I don't like commercials and listen to a promo for adopting teenagers. The voice tells me that if I ruin the punch line of jokes, make runny eggs, or wear stripes with polka dots, I could make a great parent for a teenager who needs a family.

That's probably true, which means I must be a super parent because I tell great jokes, make great eggs and I can rock those polka dots and stripes like nobody's business.

But if you're looking for someone to be a bit more honest than I just was, you need to pick up a copy of Jonathan McKee's book, Candid Confessions of an Imperfect Parent. If you can see the cover you can see a plate with burnt toast on it. That plus the title gives you a decent idea of what you're in store for here.

There's no happy family with pasted on smiles to make you give up before you even read what Jonathan has to say. It's burnt toast, which has to be about the easiest thing to make...and the simplest to burn, if we're being honest.

And honest is what we see over and over again from Jonathan. From start to finish we get the idea that Jonathan and his wife are in the trenches, along with the rest of us, in this parenting adventure. In 10 easy to read chapters we get everything from building relationships to seeing those teenagers leave the home. Jonathan gives his opinion to you without apology and backs it up with plenty of stories and research.

Just like the title might suggest, those stories don't always end up with him winning, not even in the Charlie Sheen delusional fashion. He's not claiming a perfect style, in practice or philosophy, but he gives us all plenty of tools to figure out our best style.

For churches who are interested, this is a great tool for small groups or parenting classes. Each chapter ends with great discussion questions and chapter 8 even gives a great exercise for figuring out what kind of parent you wish to be. As I'm thinking ahead in my own ministry schedule, 10 chapters can easily fit into 1 chapter a week, making this something even the busiest parent can make time for. (Was that too much? Did it sound like a commercial? If I had more time, I'd have written a jingle...)

For the sake of full disclosure, I'll let you know I got this book from the man himself, Jonathan McKee. I agreed to blog but Jonathan did not use any coercive tactics to make me say anything. I may not have anything bad to say about the book, but that's just because it's a good book. (Enter music and voice over...Buy your copy today!)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Accountable

I recently officiated a wedding. The ceremony was simple, lovely, and ended with another couple professing to keep the covenant of marriage. But it all started with a clarification...from me. At our first premarital counseling session, as I have done with every couple I have agreed to marry, I clarified a couple of matters. First, I officiate Christian weddings, where both spouses-to-be are professing Christians. I firmly believe that marriage is difficult enough, without adding disagreements about God into the mix. Second, as a minister of Jesus Christ, I believe the pastor’s role in a wedding is to represent the blessing of God on that union. So we have several sessions of premarital counseling where we discuss married life. It’s not that I have this imaginary card in my head, with a picture of me on the front and my stats on the back. (You know, like a baseball card.) Ok, I do picture cards. Pastor cards! And being a competitive guy, I want my stats to look good. The number of coupl

Patience

I am more than halfway through the last year of dropping one of my children off at school. It's my eighth grade daughter, for anyone keeping track of my family.  See, next year she will be at the high school, and her brother will drive her. He says that it's not cool for seniors to drive their freshman sister to school, but I bet it's cooler than being dropped off by your mom in a minivan.  So rather than groan about this daily responsibility, I've been reminiscing about what the drop-off line used to look like, way back in elementary school. Once our children were about halfway through their elementary years, the drop-off line became a test of patience.  Do you know which group you do not want to get caught behind in the parent drop-off line at an elementary school? The kindergartners. These little ones are barely able to walk, but now we put them in the high-pressure situation of trying to unbuckle their seat-belt, grab their backpack (which might be as tall as they a

Jury Duty

I was recently summoned to jury duty. I know, groan. Except I didn't. I had never experienced it before and was curious to see what it was like.   When the day to report arrives, they separate you into groups, asking various questions to decide if you will be selected to serve. Do you know the accused? Do you have conflicts that would keep you from serving? Can you stay focused?  I wanted to answer well, if only because my kids kept wishing me luck the day before, telling me they hoped I made the team. After all, who wants to be rejected? It occurred to me that there are things you probably shouldn’t say right away if you’re wanting to serve on a jury. I know, I know, people don’t typically want to serve on a jury. But that list didn’t seem nearly as humorous to me. Here are the things you probably shouldn’t say if you want to be selected for jury. I hold myself in contempt. You can’t handle the truth. We find the defendant guilty. I believe the judge looks pretty in his robe. I’d