Before we had kids I was an expert on children! Yep…it’s true! THEN God gave me some and I repent and confess I know very little!

I think part of my ignorance was because I had two siblings growing up and I was at a baby sitter or at school for the majority of my childhood. Both my parents worked and the few hours in the evenings together were spent doing a few chores and watching TV, everyone did their own thing. We did what most American families did, I’m not blaming… I’m just sayin’.

This is one of my main reasons why I say it is not a good thing to be away at school for all of your childhood. It does not prepare you for real life, unless you are preparing to stay in an institution all of your life (school, cubical, career, prison). Most likely you will not be prepared to resolve relationship issues, nurture family relationships, have a healthy marriage, nor be well trained to run a household smoothly. In an institutionalized school you learn to take what is fed to you, answer their questions according to their answers, and be prepared to find a good job/career.

Sadly, none of that equips us for the nitty gritty stuff of life. Yes, we need good jobs, but more importantly we need to know how to live as a family, loving and serving each other. You can make millions of dollars a year but if you don’t have a healthy marriage and good family relationships what does the money matter?

So my question for you is, are you educating your children for real life or to just get a job/career? Are you finding opportunities for them to experience the nitty gritty of life? Are they helping run the house? Are they reading books and listening to lectures/seminars on family issues? Are you giving them a focus bigger than their future income? Americans define success by their Annual Gross Income and how many toys and degrees they have, yet over half of Americans are divorced. In a land that is so prosperous why are so many people miserable?

For the last couple of weeks Olivia has been staying with a friend of ours who was due with her 9th child. She has had the opportunity to experience life in a house full of little ones with big needs! She has had front line training in resolving conflicts with unreasonable thinking that only comes from tiny, immature minds (children). This is something that cannot be learned from a textbook or a lecture! As a mom, I am so thankful for this training for her! You can read about her experiences here!

(Emma and baby Jax)

Whether it be caring for babies,

loving and training little ones,

educating minds and souls,

caring for the elderly (that’s my Grandma!),

or managing a home,

we NEED to do all we can to make sure our children are

as prepared for the nitty gritty of life as possible.

Look around you, do you see needs that you and/or your children can help out with? You can bless others by serving them and educate your children for real life at the same time. The opportunities are there!

 

This article is featured at The Legacy of the Home!

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