Parenting 101

Yesterday during church, Kirk informed that one of the lessons was on parenting. He was very impressed with the lesson and it led us into a long discussion when we arrived home. Some of the things that they discussed during the lesson was being home when your children are home regardless of their age. This really hit home with me because I was away from home a lot over the weekend, and even though it was for good reasons once I was home in the afternoon on Saturday I expressed to Kirk that I really missed my family; however, the break was nice and occasionally you need a break from your children, still I missed being around them and spending time with Kirk.

Another idea that was addressed was gaming. Kirk and I occasionally like to play video games, and I think as a teacher that there can be some educational value to gaming, but we need to be cautious of what type of games we allow our children to play and the frequency. Kirk and I have discussed getting a gaming system in our home, but we have not done it yet. After talking to friends, who have older children, they have encouraged us to wait and encourage our children to participate in other activities, which we have, and we have not had any regrets. However, I know eventually we will purchase a gaming system. I think like with everything else it is finding the balance. I have a friend, who purchased a gaming system for her family a year ago and she said that regardless of age each family member is only allowed 30 minutes of gaming a day. I liked that idea and thought that it sounded like a good practice.

In addition to the above topics, Kirk and I also addressed sleep-overs. Along time ago, prior to children, I had someone very wise tell me that your children do not need to spend the night with friends. She said that there is no purpose to it since at night we were suppose to be sleeping, and our children can have the opportunity to see their friends the next day. I thought that this was an interesting concept since when I was a kid I remember spending the night with friends. However, times have changed and even if your child's friends seem to be "good" people you do not know exactly what your child could be exposed too. Kirk said that in the article it talked about that a lot of children are exposed to ponography for the first time when they sleep over at friend's home, or are exposed to other negative elements. My father used to say, "Nothing good happens after mid-night." I have found this to be a true statement. We are intended to sleep at night, and my wise friend was correct, my children can see their friends the next day.

Since this article brought such a long discussion at our house, I thought that I would share what we discussed on the blog. Parenting is personal and it is between you and the Lord. However, we enjoy getting advice, and ideas about parenting because it is not an easy task. I thought that it was a healthy discussion between Kirk and I and I'm sure that as we go along we will have more discussions. I feel blessed that we have the Church in our life to help lead and guide us.