Bringing Up Boys

I just finished reading Bringing Up Boys by Dr. James Dobson. There were a few issues that I just didn't agree with him on, but much of the book reminded me to take a long-sighted view of parenting and reiterated the values that I sometimes forget in the day-to-day rush. Below, my favorite paragraph:

Your task as a mother or father is to build a man out of the raw materials available implicitly in your delightful little boy. Construct him stone upon stone and precept upon precept. Never assume for a moment that you can go off and “do your own thing” without serious consequences for him and his sister. It is my conviction that those who choose to bring a child into the world must give that boy or girl highest priority for a period of time. It will not always be required of moms and dads. Before they know it, that youngster will become a young man, who will pack his bags and take his first halting steps into the adult world. Then it will be their turn. By all expectations, you as a parent should have decades of health and vigor left to invest in whatever God calls you to do. But for now, there is a higher calling. I feel obligated to tell you this, whether my words are popular or not. Raising children who have been loaned to us for a brief moment outranks every other responsibility. Besides, living by that priority when our children are small will produce the greatest rewards at maturity.

Bringing Up Boys, Dr. James Dobson

I would have agreed with this whole-heartedly before having children, but only now am I beginning to understand what it means.