When my wife was pregnant, I did not wish for a boy or girl. Rather I wished that he or she be healthy. I guess this was in part due to my not liking sports. When I was growing up my grandmother said that she loved me so much that she did not favor me playing sports or swimming until I learned. Go figure. She thought I was going to get hurt or drown.

So, when other children were out playing, I chose to read. We did not have a great assortment of books in the house, because I was the only one who could read. Boy’s Life and Popular Mechanics were my favorite. Although I mixed it with gangsters, such as Al Capone. I don’t know why.

When my son was born, I had no clue about raising small children because I was never around them. I was always the child. So I talked to him using ordinary words. Such as holding his meat in escrow to get him to eat other foods. I leaned on my wife to teach me how children should act. She grew up with brothers and sisters. The way she talked about sibling rivalry; I was glad that I grew up as an only child.

One day I was repeating this riddle that I had come across. “What are little girls made of, made of, sugar and spice and everything nice. What are little boys made of, made of, snips and snails and puppy-dog tails. That’s what little boys are made of.

So he asked, “Why are little boys always made of yucky stuff.” I said, I do not know. I did not write it. I just sang it. He said, “Is that fair?” I said no, if life were fair, Rockefeller would not be so rich and us so poor. He asked, who is he? That is another story.

So this began my lot in life to teach not only him, but his sister also who came along three years later, and every student I taught, that life was not fair. I do not remember the phrase being in their vocabulary. It has been a teaching point my whole adult life. Some time you win and some time you lose. Life is negotiable.

That is not the way our Creator looks at it. He said that we should be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as He has forgiven. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up. Won’t you try it? You might like it.