Stand Up and be a Man
In the beginning of the book I said that as soon as I finished High School my father gave me some money, instructions and his blessing and told me to be my own man.
Which is what I did and I guess until I moved back home I didn’t actually realize that this was all just a bunch of crap on his part.
I actually began to understand this when I moved back home, remember this.
Well believe it or not my father expected all of us to abide by this even after we’d left his home and were heads of our own homes for the boys and my wives kept complaining to me about it because they were afraid to disagree with him when he gave instructions.
The same thing with our kids we’ve always taught our children that chores are something that everyone has to do but then he comes along with the rule that housework is women’s work and the kids start getting confused.
So with all things in all our houses we were expected to defer to our father’s instructions, his rules and one day I had had enough. It was after Diana had given Sophie an instruction which my father immediately overturned. That’s when I snapped and I went to confront him and on that day I earned his respect as the man in my house, even though I wasn’t intentionally seeking. I just wanted my house to go back to normal.
After he left this became the parental hierarchy in our house:
The reason for this hierarchy is simple:
1. As the head of the house my instructions supersede all the other’s except of course God’s.
2. The Birth Mother as much as we teach our children to see all four wives as their mother’s these four women are different and don’t share the same views on everything so in a case where they is a disagreement the ruling of the Birth Mother supersedes the other’s.
3. Mother’s after the Birth Mother because after all they are their mother’s just not by blood.
4. Older Siblings because they know the rules that we live by in this house and it is their job to enforce them in our absence.
5. Relatives they have to listen to them and show them respect as their elders but if what they want goes against what they are taught in this house and by the Bible then there are to know ignore those instructions.
So even though you need to honor your parents you still need to define yourself as a man even if it means standing up to your parents and if it’s for your family and for your beliefs all the better.