Dear Abby: One of our patrons would greatly appreciate a copy of the poem you published several years ago. It begins, "Oh, heavenly Father, make me a better parent . . ."
She said she had read it in your column about 20 years ago. If you could supply it, she would be extremely grateful.- Connie Shair, librarian, Altadena, Calif.
Dear Connie: The item is titled "A Parent's Prayer." It was written by the late Garry C. Myers, the founder of Highlights for Children, a wholesome, educational monthly magazine - now in its fourth generation. And here it is:
A PARENT'S PRAYER
"Oh, heavenly Father, make me a better parent. Help me to understand my children, to listen patiently to what they have to say and to understand all their questions kindly. Keep me from interrupting them, talking back to them and contradicting them. Make me as courteous to them as I would have them be to me. Give me the courage to confess my sins against my children and ask their forgiveness when I know that I have done wrong.
"May I not vainly hurt the feelings of my children. Forbid that I should laugh at their mistakes, or resort to shame and ridicule as punishment. Let me not tempt a child to lie and steal. So guide me hour by hour that I may demonstrate by all I say and do that honesty produces happiness.
"Reduce, I pray, the meanness in me. May I cease to nag; and when I am out of sorts, help me, Oh Lord, to hold my tongue. Blind me to the little errors of my children and help me to see the good things they do. Give me a ready word for honest praise.
"Help me to treat my children as those of their own age, but let me not exact of them the judgments and conventions of adults. Allow me not to rob them of the opportunity to wait upon themselves, to think, to choose, and to make their own decisions.
"Forbid that I should ever punish them for my selfish satisfaction. May I grant them all their wishes that are reasonable and have the courage always to withhold a privilege that I know will do them harm.
"Make me so fair and just, so considerate and companionable to my children that they will have genuine esteem for me. Fit me to be loved and imitated by my children. Oh God, do give me calm and poise and self-control."
Dear Abby: Can you stand another "twin story"? I, too, have an identical twin sister, and although we never dressed alike, we were constantly mistaken for "the other one" - even as adults.
After we were both married, my sister moved to another state. Last summer, my husband and I were vacationing at a popular resort, and at one point, in the presence of several strangers, he impulsively grabbed me and gave me a very passionate kiss! A man I had never seen before witnessed it - and he kept staring at me to the point that I noticed it and it made me uncomfortable.
A year later, while I was visiting my sister, she introduced me to her boss. It was the same man who had seen my husband lay that kiss on me! When he saw that there were two of us, he burst out laughing. Then he confessed that he had assumed that what he had seen was my twin sister cheating on her husband!
- The Other Twin
Dear Readers: I laughed at this: "A mother hen, having some difficulty keeping her chicks in line, declared, `If your father could see you now, he'd turn over in his gravy.' "
What teens need to know about sex, drugs, AIDS, and getting along with peers and parents is in "What Every Teen Should Know." To order, send a business-sized, self-addressed envelope to: Dear Abby Teen Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054. (Postage is included.)
1993 Universal Press Syndicate