"A foolish son is destruction to his father, and the contentions of a wife are a constant dripping"
The implication of the proverb is: Don't breed this type of person. Instead, do whatever you have to do to have a wise son and a contented wife. We make the bed we lie in.
It seems clear that the way one creates this type of child and this type of wife is through lack of time and lack of demonstrated love.
Too often fathers have woken up to the fact that sons and daughters don't become wise by accident. It takes a lot of instruction and lots of love and lots of time. Wisdom is a process that moves through a child as they watch and emulate a father or mother who is wise. They need to know your decisions and when you have held off doing something you really wanted in order to do what was clearly the wiser choice.
A foolish son is a destruction to a father, but a foolish father is a destruction to a son first. A self-oriented father who only thinks of career and personal ego needs and personal satisfaction destroys the soul of the child way before the child can destroy the soul of the father through their foolish choices.
God is pleading with all of us. Don't model, teach, or expose our children to repeated foolishness; it is only temporary pleasure and gain. Personal sacrifice of pouring wisdom into children time after time will pay off with a soul enriched by the children rather than destroyed by them.
We dare not go against this proverb. The number one thing reported by teens about or against their parents is that they feel abandoned. Their parents were always doing their things, always at work, never there for them, didn't seem to want to be there with them. This abandonment reaches deep and develops bitterness and eventual rebellion which changes a child's life. Many children are choosing against their parents to get back at them for this feeling of abandonment and bitterness they feel deep in their soul.
It is even worse when the parents divorce for less than life-or-death issues.
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz