Head of the House

I have reached 2 Chronicles in my Bible journey, and the last three books have been an account of the leadership of Israel and Judah.  It goes a little like this:  Bad king/judgement for the people.  Good king:  blessings on the people.  Sometimes the king experienced the consequences of a wrong decision, but for the most part, the people suffer.  For example, David took a census of his people because he wanted to see how strong his nation was- he lost sight of who gives victories (God).  David realized his mistake and sought forgiveness from God.  It was freely granted, but the consequences of his behavior were already set in motion.  God allowed him to choose what consequence would be exacted against Israel, and a plague killed many Israelites.  David, however, kept his life.  There are many life lessons to be drawn from this little piece of history, but the one that has my attention is the responsibility of leadership.
I think it goes without saying that when you lead people you carry a heavy burden of responsibility.  Greatness always trickles down from the top.  We see this in our presidency.  If something goes wrong in our nation, we look to the president to take wise action to fix it.  In the same breath, if something is worth celebrating, we thank our president for his quick thinking or smart planning.  It is the same for companies and schools- people look to the CEO or the principal- not the accountants and teachers.  Not that teachers and accountants don't have roles to fill within that framework, but when there is a problem, you look to the top.  Everywhere I look, I see people placing blame squarely on the shoulders of who is in charge- and if that person is at all worth their leadership position, they accept that blame and take responsibility for what has happened.
So why don't we see this in our own families?  Patrick and I have been discussing this at length, and we are firm believers in the "Man of the House."  We believe it is how God designed a family to function.  And we have also discussed that when there is a conflict within our family, it is on Patrick's shoulders.  I am starting to finally get to my point, which is really about the relationship between parents and their children.  Patrick and I believe that as parents, we are the CEOs.  We are responsible for what happens in our family.  We are responsible for setting the dynamic and maintaining that dynamic.  For life.  We will always be the parents, and Alaina and Lia will always be our children.  Of course, as they age, the dynamic will have to change, and we will be responsible for adjusting the settings on our family life.  What my parents have taught me is that the burden or responsibility for creating the opportunity for relationship resides within the parents.  In reality, it isn't much different than a king leading a nation, it is just a far more intimate setting.
Father, grant us the wisdom of Solomon to manage such a task- and the grace to accept the blame when things are wrong and need repair.