We Shape the Clay...What will YOUR Finished Product Be?

This one is a tough one for me, and will probably be short. I have been raising my boys since birth, mostly as a single parent but with some GREAT support. This support has shown my boys how to act, what's expected of them, and how to reach their goals since they could barely toddle. They have built, installed, sanded, hammered, sawed, drilled, mowed, shoveled, along with dishes, laundry, cleaning, child care, car maintenance, sport teams, school work and volunteer events. If they show up at a friends house and the friend needs work done, they don't complain or ask too many questions, they get it done. No mouth, no groaning, just do it. They visit family that needs furniture moved, things repaired or an extra hand? They do it. It doesn't matter who it is, where they came from, my boys have been raised that it is what you DO for someone not what they can DO FOR YOU. We gave them the basics. We taught them that even children have responsibilities. We taught them that you don't always get what you want but you don't make a scene about it. We taught them that if you want to be, do, have something for yourself you WORK for it. Too many kids now a days hold their hand out without a word and it gets filled. If what they want doesn't happen right away the world knows it. Screaming and fussing is tolerated and even allowed with the excuse of 'they need to express their feelings'. Wrong. THEY need to understand that they are not always going to be top priority. They need to learn patience. They need to learn to give rather than GET. Any child over the age of five that still behaves this way is a shame, a sad, sad shame. How do they cope in school when their lackadaisical parent is not there to fill their every need? What happens when the teacher calls home about poor behavior? Excuses from the parents. Excuses for themselves to push the blame on someone else rather than having to look at how they molded the clay of that child since day one. Excuses where they don't have to examine themselves and their lack of responsibility in TEACHING them from the start. I have left birthday parties where the child looks up expects gift after gift to be showered on them. I have gotten out of line at a grocery store where a child screams and fusses for a treat until the parent actually hands it to them. Why? Because I have a big mouth obviously. I want to shout "THAT'S TEACHING THEM! NEXT TIME GIVE THEM A MASK AND GUN AND GIVE THEM A RIDE TO A BANK!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am not a great parent, but I try hard. From day one I knew they would need skills to be out on there own. I wanted strong, capable men with a good heart. I molded them the best I could with advice from my support team, common sense and the love enough to say NO more often than they would like. I took the time to do what I had to do to put another productive member of society out there. One day there will come a time where my hands are no longer able to mold the clay that are my children, but I will be able to stand back and enjoy what they made themselves out to be.