Everything I need to know about parenting I learned from Mad Men.

Art by Naoto Hattori

 Rampant alcoholism, chain smoking and humiliating your children in front of peers and other adults notwithstanding, because, of course, I can honestly say the most profound thing I might have ever heard regarding relationships with living things was spoken on Mad Men.

Last Sunday's episode involved a scene where everybody's favorite dipsomaniac, Don Draper, has taken an interesting and complicated female co-worker out to dinner.  (This woman is a psychologist who basically runs focus groups for the ad firm Don works at).  Don inquires basically how she is able to get the focus groups to open up to her, as she is quite capable of getting these groups to share with her their real feelings in an unguarded way.  Her answer was in effect, the following:

The Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger. Suddenly they saw a traveller coming down the road, and the Sun said: "I see a way to decide our dispute. Whichever of us can cause that traveller to take off his cloak shall be regarded as the stronger. You begin." So the Sun retired behind a cloud, and the Wind began to blow as hard as it could upon the traveller. But the harder he blew the more closely did the traveller wrap his cloak round him, till at last the Wind had to give up in despair. Then the Sun came out and shone in all his glory upon the traveller, who soon found it too hot to walk with his cloak on.

Kindness effects more than severity.

-Aesop's Fable of The Wind and the Sun

How simple is the message delivered by this one, dear fable?  

Today, tomorrow, this year - will you be the wind?  Or the sun?