Respect.  Isn’t that really all parents want from their kids?  Isn’t it about the hardest thing to actually teach them to do–treat us with respect?  I struggle with this a great deal due to the way my two teenage boys sometimes speak to me, respond to a request, and generally behave.  It is not with much respect, at times, and I don’t like it.

Aretha had the biggest hit with her rendition of “Respect” though it was originally performed by Otis Redding in 1965 (here’s a link to a great video of her performing it in 1968).  Some of the lyrics to that classic song resonant for me on this topic: “All I’m askin’ for is a little respect,” and “R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me.”