PITTSBURGH DAD

Daughter Beth sent an e-mail encouraging me to watch a series of short videos on You Tube entitled "Pittsburgh Dad".

My response to her, after watching a few, was "OMG - It's Me!".

It wasn't only me. It was probably just about every Dad I knew in Pittsburgh trying to raise kids in the 60's. All of us yelled at the kids for taking off their snow soaked winter clothes in the house vs the basement or garage.

Like most of us, I tried to emulate the child raising tactics of my parents, a choice I now wish I had abandoned earlier than I did.

A tragic event that occurred during those child raising days caused me to abandon the corporal punishment techniques that I emulated from my own youth.

Kid raising, at the time I was a young dad, seemed to center on telling the kids what they couldn't do vs what they were allowed to do.

It was sort of a shotgun approach designed to cover any misdeeds including those possible future transgressions I might not have become aware of.

This admonition was replete with a vivid description of what would happen should they opt to disobey coupled with many "time out" reminders.

Most of the time they obeyed. But I'm convinced they were secretly sneaking into the fridge and tasting "forbidden fruit" - my cold milk and ice water supply.

The sticky residue from the Frosted Flakes on the bottle or carton opening gave me the clue.

I was still stuck in the Wheaties, Cheerios, Kix, and Rice Crispies breakfast menu from when I was a kid, and wouldn't have eaten a sugar coated cereal flake on a dare.

I was strict, but flavored a lot of my semi-scolding with humorous lightly implied sarcastic remarks - something I have also observed in my kids as they raise my grandkids.

One of my favorite stories is when Bruce, my oldest, became upset with my strict child upbringing and decided to run away from home - in the middle of Winter -wearing only the light clothing he had on.

I soon received a call from a neighbor about three houses away. She wanted to warn me that Bruce was walking up the road ,in the snow, dressed only in what appeared to be his pajamas.

My reply didn't seem to do much to reassure her, "It's OK Mary Jo. Bruce is running away from home."

Not sure what humorous comment I greeted Bruce with - or if one was even attempted - when he pushed open the door shivering and with his head down.

I seem to recall when I lightly chastized him as to his decision making, he simply explained, "I changed my mind."

Any thought of punishment at that time would have been unforgiveable.

I've often commented that the toughest task I ever attempted was that of being a parent, because it takes so long to get your final grades.

Those grades keep coming in and,trust me, they are much better than those I received in my undergraduate days at Duquesne U.

Nowadays, the "Pittsburgh Dad" I recognize in my own kids appears to be a more gentle and kinder Dad than their old man, something I've commented about with pride in previous blogs.

However, after watching the YouTube videos, part of me still wants to relive my role as that all too familiar "Pittsburgh Dad".