We all know that parenting takes consistency, hard work, training, and constant guiding and guarding. And yet it’s FUN. We make our homelife what we want to be. A place of rest, joy, happiness, contentment, and productivity. Or a place of chaos and tension.
Especially as mothers in the home, we determine what our home atmosphere will be like. It all depends on our vision, our attitude, and our purpose to make it happen.
Some parents do easy parenting. Others are in for the long haul of earnest parenting!
It’s easy to get lax and want to make our children happy, especially for the moment. But seeking to make our children happy doesn’t always make a happy household. Of course, we want our children to be happy, but we also have a higher goal. We want them to be holy. This certainly doesn’t happen automatically. We must train them daily to be obedient, to do what is right, and prepare them to be responsible, hardworking, diligent people. We are preparing them for their future. We are preparing them to enjoy a good marriage.
Our ultimate aim is not just happiness for the moment, but happiness for their future!
When we continually give into our children to give them anything they want when they want it may make them happy for the moment. But it produces children with an entitlement mentality. It produces children who easily get into a mood or have a fit because they don’t get what they want immediately. I am sure you never allow pouting or moods in your household!
I don’t believe children should expect something every time they go to the supermarket or you are out shopping. What does this do? It teaches them that they can have whatever fancies them. This becomes a habit. This produces adults who are impulse buyers who buy things because they see them but don’t really need them. They don’t learn to conserve. They don’t learn discipline. It does not prepare them for marriage or learning to manage a home with frugalness.
Sometimes we discipline our children for disobedience and other times we can’t be bothered. We are not consistent, so our children don’t think it is important. But if we don’t train them to obey us and they only obey when we shout and yell after the thirteenth time of telling them, we are vacating our responsibility as a parent. And making a chaotic atmosphere in our homes.
Proverbs 29:17: “Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.”
Don’t give into the easy way out. Be earnest. Be consistent. Train your children to the behavior you want in your home. THEN you will enjoy rest, peace, joy, and happiness.
Love from Nancy Campbell
Painting: LovettaReyesCairoArt