Blog > My Father's Son is My Son's Father
The Day He Became the Example
More than forty years ago, I was helping with some farm work alongside an old timer’s son.
We were fixing something that probably didn’t really need fixing, because that’s how the old timer had taught us to do it, when he said, almost to himself, “My father’s son is my son’s father.”
I remember stopping, trying to sort out that out in my head.
He didn’t explain it right away. He just kept working and finally said the day you become the example isn’t the day someone tells you. It’s the day you realize your kids are watching you closer than you thought.
For the most part, he was still learning from his dad. Calling him when something broke. Asking what he’d do. Measuring his own choices against how he was raised. At the same time, his kids were always nearby. Quiet. Observing.
That’s what fooled him.
He thought teaching happened when you explained things. When you talked. When you corrected mistakes. He didn’t realize most of it was happening when he wasn’t saying anything at all.
Then he told me about an important moment.
He was frustrated. It was getting late. One of those jobs that should’ve taken ten minutes had already eaten an hour. He thought about leaving it. Calling it good enough. No one would’ve known.
Then he looked up.
His kids were there, not saying a word. Just watching.
That’s when he went back to it. Took his time. Did it right.
Not because the job demanded it.
Because the moment did.
That’s when it settled in.
“My father’s son is my son’s father,” he said again. “Do you get it?” he asked.
Your kids don’t learn from advice. They learn from how you handle pressure. From whether you cut corners when no one’s asking questions.
He said his kids seldom repeated his words over the years. But they repeated his habits. The patience. The way he finished things even when no one was checking.
“That’s when I quit talking,” he said. “And just did the work.”
You don’t get told when it happens. There’s no ceremony. No warning.
One day you’re not the learner anymore.
You’re the example.
Dennis Prussman,
Premier Land & Auction Group
Real Broker, LLC,