Potts: Take care of yourself for your children

“Are you happy yet, Daddy?”

“Gee, Dad, you sure look tired. You'd better rest.”

I wasn't feeling either particularly unhappy or all that worn out. But my then 4-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son evidently thought otherwise.

Maybe I had been scowling a bit more than usual. And perhaps I had uttered more than the usual number of sighs and groans that evening. Or maybe I was just getting older.

Whatever the reason, though, I was reminded just how sensitive children are to the health and happiness of their parents. Every expression on our faces, every word we utter, the way we sit or walk are all studied by our kids for clues to what's going on with us.

As adults who are used to taking care of ourselves, we sometimes forget just how important we are to our children. Our younger children, especially, count on us for their very survival. Even when they are adequately fed, clothed and sheltered, however, our children still look to us for more.

We parents provide them with their general sense of “all's right with the world.” If we are usually positive, confident and energetic, if we love life, our children will feel that way too.

Of course, the opposite is true as well. If we are negative, unsure, weary, if we dread each day, our children soon adopt this world view. Most of us mothers and fathers have found ourselves surprised and a bit saddened, on occasion, to hear our own unhealthy attitudes expressed in the words of our children.

We parents, then, need to be alert to our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being.

Whether it's regular exercise, an adult education class, counseling, or whatever, we must devote both time and energy to our own health and happiness. It is our job as parents not only to take care of our children, but to take care of ourselves for our children.

As my now 22-year-old son reminded me a few weeks ago, “I'm counting on you to stick around for a few decades, you know.”