Teaching Values Part II

I was raised in a very conservative home and there were very strong values spoken and lived there. Most of the specifics have not followed me into my parenting, but there are a few things that I stress. One of them is clear priorities.

Sadie spent the evening begging to go away for Memorial Day Weekend with a friend, thus skipping church. We have never allowed our kids to do that, and we're not going to start now. It may seem harsh to some, but our reasoning is that we need to make a clear statement about priorities and this is one way that we do it.

I owe a great deal of my ability to be strong and non-conforming to my parents who never hesitated in having us toe the line when it came to priorities. They were clear and they were firm.

I never realized how difficult it must have been for them in having to set those and keep them with us. It's no fun to be the "reason" your child is miserable. But we're not parenting for the todays, but for the endless stream of tomorrows that follow childhood....