Frank Costanza Quotes

August 26 It’s Your Job to Check In Nobody steals a scene on Seinfeld quite like George’s parents, Frank and Estelle Costanza. And naturally, nobody makes George more miserable than they do. They are a crazy, absurd set of parents. In one episode, George has to make his weekly call to them, and it’s a task he finds so onerous that he has to prepare things in advance to talk about. The twist, of course, is that George’s parents dread the calls themselves. “And every Sunday with the calls,” they finally complain. In reality, this is precisely backward. Why is George checking in? That’s his parents’ job. Your kids didn’t choose this life; you did. What does that mean? It means as your kids get older there should be none of that “Why don’t you ever call?” nagging. That’s your responsibility. That said, if you want the kind of relationship where your kids do call and check in and share what’s going on with their lives, it starts when they’re much, much younger. When you can’t just expect them to open up and share with you. When you have to check in with them because they don’t know that they’re struggling or that there’s anything worth sharing. Kids simply don’t have the experience or the perspective yet to know one way or the other. When it comes to stuff like this, “just being there” is not enough. You have to seek them out. You have to reach out. You have to gently pry them open. You have to help them realize their own feelings. You have to be more than there—you have to be proactive.