One of my favorite notices hangs on the wall at the international arrivals building in JFK airport. It reads:The two most important things to remember when you leave the airport are:

1. Where you parked your car

2. How you will pay for itThis advice from the American Express credit card company hit home recently, when I drove my wife to the airport. We had come to the States for a family visit, and she was returning several days earlier than I was. Our plan was to stop first at the American Airlines terminal to validate the frequent flyer ticket my wife was traveling on and from there proceed to the El Al terminal.

I parked our rented car in the lane near the terminal, and, leaving the luggage in the car, my wife and I proceeded to the ticket counter. The validation procedure didn’t take that long, and I was happy to see that we finished in plenty of time to get to the El Al terminal on schedule.

We walked out of the building and headed for our car — or what should have been our car. For some strange reason, it was nowhere to be found.

Assuming I just couldn’t remember where I had parked it, I continued walking around looking for the car. Suddenly, a man sitting in a parked car shouted out that he had just seen a car towed away. That was a possibility I did not even want to consider.

I continued my search, but eventually, I was forced to reconsider and admit that maybe the car towed away just might have been my car. I called the airport’s information service and was referred to the parking lot officials. Sure enough, it was my car that had been towed away for being parked illegally.

Never having been through this before, it took us a little while to find out what we had to do to get the car back. My (poor) wife and I were told to wait for the airport bus, which was to take us to the parking lot where the car was located.

The bus took some time in coming. Our tension level rose several notches as we began to fear the worst — that my wife might not make her plane.

As the bus proceeded on its way, it dawned on us that it was not a special bus solely for people whose cars had been towed away. It was a regular airport bus that stopped at just about every single terminal in the airport. (I must say, it was the first time I got to see all the terminals in JFK.)

There was some comfort in meeting up with about five other people whose cars had been towed away and were headed toward the same destination we were — until we found out we were headed in the wrong direction. At the end of this sightseeing tour, the bus driver told all of us to get off and take a bus going in the opposite direction. You can imagine the frustration many felt at not being told this to begin with.

Taking comfort in knowing we would now be heading in the right direction, we began waiting for the other bus, which — in case you haven’t guessed by now — did not come immediately.

Surprisingly, this second bus drove us only a short way before the driver stopped and announced that we had a 10 to 15 minute walk to reach the parking lot. Eventually, we arrived at the parking lot and were able to get the car (luggage and all) for a nominal fee of about $75. Believe it or not, my wife made her flight to Israel.

You can now begin to understand why I appreciate the sign at JFK.

This incident only served to remind me once again of the chronic condition from which I have suffered for many years. It’s called "Human Being."

Making mistakes is part and parcel of being human, and it need not be cause for alarm, shame or even guilt.

This thought can be very comforting to us, for as parents we may be making plenty of mistakes — yet we need not be overly concerned. It is normal and to be expected. It is only when we persist in repeating the same mistakes over and over again that we need be concerned. That’s good reason to be upset because then our mistakes cease to be mistakes but become habit. And a habit of making mistakes can be dangerous — especially when it comes to our children.

A father recently asked me for advice about his daughter. He was concerned about the way she was dressing and he wanted to tone it down. To get a better picture of the situation, I later spoke with someone who knew the girl and had tried to help her. This person told me that the girl had long ago left the ways of her parents, r"l, yet the father was not at all aware of this. All he could find to be concerned about was his daughter’s clothes.

After further investigation, I discovered that the mother and daughter in this family don’t get along. In fact, the mother has not been talking to this girl for a number of years. Is it any wonder then that the child has left religion altogether?

Despite this, when I tried to set up a meeting with this mother, I was told that she is too busy with the business she runs and just doesn’t have the time to be concerned about having a relationship with her daughter.

One of the biggest mistakes we can make with our children is to think that we can have any influence on them without having a warm and loving relationship. Of course they may do things that upset us or are cause for disappointment, but this does not mean they are not our children. They are our children, and we are their friends and allies. We are the ones they are to turn to for help. We are the ones who can help them out of situations too difficult for them to get themselves out of.

Yet if we turn them away when they are not doing as we wish, they will begin to turn elsewhere. To those who don’t care for them as much as we do and who won’t be able to help them as much as we can. How can we withhold our love for them at a time when they probably need it the most — at the time when they are not performing properly?

One such child, whose father was frustrated at the fact that his son wasn’t living up to his expectations wrote, "I never remember you being happy to see me. If I would go next to you and try to touch you or push against you, you pushed me aside saying, ‘I can’t walk! Move away!’

If we want to help our children improve we must show them unconditional love and compassion. Only then will we be able to guide them properly and successfully.

So, if you see your child not living up to your expectations, go over to him and embrace him. Tell him how much you love him and want only his benefit. Then try to work out a solution together with him.

With sincere wishes for your success and siyata diShemaya,