Parenting Evaluation for Parents

When I was at work today, I had a convesation with a young woman I work with. She was telling me about someone she knows who professes to be a Christian, allways talks about God and salvation to her, but she says she blocks it out because the woman is a hypocrit.

The woman who witnesses to her doesn’t let her kids paticipate in Halloween, or St Patricks Day, with the reasoning that celebrating Halloween is celebrating a satanic holiday, and celebrating St Patricks Day is celebrating Leprechauns, which she says are also evil.

She does however, allow her kids to watch horror movies, such as Friday the Thirteenth, and the Saw movies (I have no idea what those are), and Nightmare on Elm St.

The young woman doesn’t understand the double standard.

How can you not allow your kids to celebrate Halloween, but they can watch movies that are full of murder, horror, and other evil things?

I got to thinking about it, and I know that I have been guilty of similar double standards over the years.

I think this conversation was good for me because it made me evaluate my own parenting rules, and what I allow, and what I don’t or haven’t.

As I have gotten older, I have noticed that I don’t make decisions based on fear as much as I did when I was younger, and I also am more likely to evaluate my reasons for certain rules, rather than make rules because everyone else thinks I should.

I want to be a good witness to my faith.

I want people to look at my life and see that I live what I say I believe, even in my parenting.

I know I have made mistakes, and I will make more before my kids are all grown up.

But I am doing the best I know how to do, and I did the best I knew how to when my older kids were younger.

Life goes on, and God has a way of making everything work out for our good, even when we make mistakes.

Thank God for that!

I am the mom of seven kids, and the oldest is 21. Through the years I have had the awesome privilege to parent (in a sense) some of my kids friends.

One aspect of parenting their friends that is difficult, is that I am not the parent, so I only have what authority I am given- and they are free to take my advice or leave it.

One aspect that is not so hard, is that sometimes kids are quicker to take advice or encouragement from someone other than their parents.

When your kids have friends who practically grow up in your house, you do have a responsibility to those kids to be a good example to them- especially if you know they don’t have one in their own home.

There are a couple of kids who have become like my own over the years, so much so that I am refered to as their “other mom”.

These kids call me mom, come and visit me, and respect what Dan and I say to them- just like our own kids do.

They have asked our advice in many areas, and have asked for prayer for parents or siblings at one time or another.

Some have called in the middle of the night to ask for help in a troubling situation.

I am blessed to be parenting more than my own kids, and when people ask me how many kids I have, I almost feel guilty not counting them.

I believe that as a parent, whether to my kids or someone else’s- I am responsible to pray, listen, guide, and pray some more.

When your kids bring friends home, look at them as an extension of your own family. That will open up doors that will bless you and them.

parenting, being an example, parenting kids friends, communicating with kids, praying for kids

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