If I was good each week, my father would take me to a different

Hear the words of Dick Van Patten, spoken with the memory of youth and the warmth of a father’s hand: “If I was good each week, my father would take me to a different pet store each Saturday. I had a snake, horny toads, turtles, lizards, rabbits, guinea pigs… I kept my alligator in the bathtub until it got too big.” Though these words may sound lighthearted, even whimsical, they carry within them the echoes of deeper truths: the shaping of character through reward, the bond between parent and child, and the wonder of a world alive with creatures both strange and familiar.

For the heart of the quote is not the snake nor the alligator, but the father who nurtured discipline with joy. Here is a lesson as old as time: goodness is encouraged not through harshness alone, but through love, patience, and delight. Each Saturday trip was a covenant, a promise that virtue and kindness would be answered with discovery. This was no mere act of buying pets—it was the weaving of a bond between father and son, where discipline became not a burden, but a path to wonder.

The ancients, too, knew the power of such bonds. In the stories of the Greeks, young Alexander the Great was given a horse, Bucephalus, when others said the creature was too wild. His father, King Philip, allowed the boy to try, and when Alexander mastered the horse, Philip declared, “Seek a kingdom worthy of yourself, my son, for Macedonia is too small for you.” A gift of an animal, much like Van Patten’s creatures, became more than a gift—it became a test, a lesson, a shaping of destiny. So it is that the animals of childhood, whether a rabbit or a mighty alligator, are teachers as much as companions.

There is also within these words the great joy of wonder. For what is childhood if not the age of marvels, when each creature is a mystery and each new discovery a door to another world? The boy who tended turtles and lizards learned not only care but also curiosity, not only responsibility but reverence. To hold in one’s hand the living pulse of a small creature is to glimpse the great tapestry of life itself. These lessons, learned in youth, carry into manhood, shaping the way one sees the earth and its fragile wonders.

Yet, there is humor too, as Van Patten recalls keeping an alligator in the bathtub. Here the words sparkle with the innocence of youth, when limits are tested and the boundaries of possibility stretched. Such tales remind us that life is not only duty and discipline, but also laughter and delight. The great sages of old knew this as well—did not Diogenes, the philosopher, keep strange company with animals, mocking convention and teaching through humor? Even the foolishness of youth contains wisdom, for it teaches the soul to cherish freedom, to embrace life fully, even wildly.

And so the meaning deepens: the quote is not merely about pets, but about how love, reward, curiosity, and even mischief can shape a soul. The father who guided with patience, the child who marveled at creation, the animals who gave silent lessons—all these together formed a foundation of memory and character that lasted a lifetime. It reminds us that greatness is not always forged in grand halls or through mighty deeds, but in the small rituals of home and family.

The lesson, then, is clear: nurture the young not only with rules, but with joy. Encourage goodness not only with sternness, but with delight. Fill childhood with wonder, for these seeds grow into the wisdom of tomorrow. And in your own life, whether you are parent, teacher, or guide, remember that even the smallest acts—a gift, a shared journey, a moment of laughter—can shape destinies.

Therefore, let your action be this: seek out the marvels of the world with those you love. Encourage the young with patience and joy. And in your own soul, keep alive the spirit of the child who once placed an alligator in the bathtub, daring to laugh, to wonder, and to live fully in the great story of life. For it is there, in wonder and love, that true wisdom begins.