As an adoptive parent your goal is not only to reach your new son or daughter but to teach them by example, by mentoring, and not overlooking oral tradition.
Good advice, old sayings or quotes are good to teach your kids. The colorful language is catchy and you’d be surprised how often these sayings provoke thought.
Advice from An Old Rancher
Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.
Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.
Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
Words that soak into your ears are whispered… not yelled.
Meanness don’t jes’ happen overnight.
Forgive your enemies; it messes up their heads.
Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.
You cannot unsay a cruel word.
When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
The best sermons are lived, not preached.
Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t never gonna happen anyway.
Don’t judge folks by their relatives.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
Live a good, honorable life… Then when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.
Don’t interfere with somethin’ that ain’t bothering you none.
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.
Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
The biggest troublemaker and liar you’ll probably ever have to deal with watches you from the mirror every mornin’.
Always drink upstream from the herd.
Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.
Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
Don’t pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he’ll just kill you.
Never, never squat with yer spurs on.
In anger, don’t kick a fresh cow patty on a hot day.
Got troubles? Walk 4 hours in a new pair of boots.
Check the width of the canyon before you begin your jump.
Everything that glitters ain’t gold.
There’s no education in the second kick of the mule.
Don’t knowingly anger the cook before mealtime.
Keep yer troubles to yourself. Half the folk you tell won’t care. The other half will be glad you got them.
Hindsight is 20/20.
Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
Prayer has the power to change the natural course of things.
Measure twice, cut once.
Know the value of what you may lose if you gamble. A trinket, no big deal. Your eternal soul? Well, you’ve lost everything.
Adoption Through Struggle 