Is there something to be said for the saying, "Ignorance is Bliss?" When I was growing up, my mom did not have to worry about "monitoring" me. She knew that if I acted outside of the accepted rules for "good children", some parent would find out and turn me in. There was a "code" among parents that seemed to insure that children were usually caught while attempting their mischief.
In this age of technology, children are faced with many passages to trouble and there are no other parents watching. Parents are forced to make a choice. They must take an active role in monitoring their children and communicating with them. We have seen, first hand, that this is not the norm. Parents hand over technology with limited, if any, restrictions and enjoy a life of "Ignorant Bliss".
Our oldest may complain about our parameters on his texting and computer, but something he said the other day affirmed all that we do. He was chatting with a friend and complaining about how he wished his parents didn't know so much and weren't so involved. The girl he was chatting with responded, "I wouldn't complain. I wish my parents were involved. My mom and dad let me do whatever. My mom is always busy and my dad just doesn’t care. I would trade with you anytime."
Remember, ignorance may be easier, but it is not better. It is work to monitor your kids and talk them through the hard stuff. But home is a safe place to fail and learn. They want you involved and they want to know you care.
About Me
- blessed2Bmom
- I am wife to a wonderful Godly man and mom to three amazing children. I am aware daily that I am saved by grace and that everything good in my life is a precious gift from God.
This may seem like a gross oversimplification, but raising kids is like any sound investment you make. What you get out of it in the end is directly proportional to what you invest in it over the long haul. With children, what is necessary is that you invest your life in theirs . . . your time, your concern, your instruction, your admonition, your discipline, your passion, your empathy and sympathy . . . in short . . . your love. The singer, Karen Taylor-Good sings a song entitled, "Love is a
ReplyDeleteVerb." As a child, I heard a lot of "I love you's," but the parental behaviors that teach a child what love truly is were sorely missing. With no lessons in the value of self-control, an ambiguous moral compass, and no provision of appropriate boundaries and necessary consequences, my childhood was a very scary free-fall with no idea where the bottom was. At 62, I'm still suffering the consequences of growing up with self-centered and immature parents who were ill-prepared to make the necessary investments in their children's lives. Be involved with your kids . . . be VERY INVOLVED. Though they may complain about it now, a day will come when they will come to you and tell you what it meant to them to know you cared about who they were and what choices they were making and that you protected them from themselves when they were children and desperately needed your guidance . . . your love.