the adult is me, and i am trying to rediscover my passions with the help of my kids by encouraging them to explore theirs. i cannot express how wonderful it is, and how freeing it is to be like a kid again and just do something for the sake of its enjoyment
I’m glad to hear it. Thank you for sharing and I wish you and your kids the best on your journey. Not that my opinion matters here- but I’d say you’re doing it right. To me at least, a major part of having children is getting to see the world through their eyes and showing them all the wonders that time and repetition might have made dull for you becoming bright and new again- and of course letting them find new and wonderful things to show and teach you about the world that you never knew or took for granted in all your years. So kudos and best wishes.
funny you mention religion, because it’s a little the opposite… my kids are baptized, and i’m raising them to understand their catechism, but i want their education to be different from mine. i want them to want more, to ask questions, which i was not forbidden from doing, just never given good answers for, and it puts the pressure on me to understand what the church and i teach, and why we believe. if they’ve come to realize they don’t share my beliefs, then that is their choice and i hope they come to God in their own way, but the benefit for me is that i’ve come to be stronger in my faith as i learn more about it to better teach them.
Lol. It was supposed to say REPETITION, not religion. I’m sorry. I wrote that very late in the evening and didn’t notice the typo and then passed out at 2am when I got home.
It’s kinda a neat typo because it brought on the discussion in your reply- which I again am very happy to hear. I have no issues with religion or raising children with religion, especially when it’s done in the way it sounds like you are. Like you say, asking questions and answering questions helps us learn and explore subjects and ourselves more.
I edited the original comment now so that it says “repetition” but for anyone coming a long later- I accidentally auto typed “religion” and didn’t correct it the first time.
I will say this- we are all always growing. When I reached the age my parents were in my earliest form memories of my life, I realized that at that time that I looked to them as absolute authority and expertise they were kids like me. Knowing at that age what my finances and emotional maturity were, and thinking about all the perceived wrongs they’d done in raising me and how I as I was at the same age might be in those situations made me really appreciate that they were still learning and growing themselves but had little people relying on them and hanging off them. This isn’t an excuse for any “poor parenting” that ever has occurred- it’s just a bit of empathy I found for my parents as I grew older and had the experience to better understand what they’d gone through in life and who they were at those ages.
The take away isn’t that “meh- you can’t ask for a parent to do better…” it’s that any given person is only capable of so much. My parents didn’t have the culture or tools of self discovery and introspection etc. that I did. But someone seeing this has notice of the issue- to be mindful in THEIR parenting not to do these things. I think that is good. So I guess what I am trying to say is we should hold people accountable for their actions but not be overly harsh without understanding or trying to understand them- what is done is done, but we have the ability going forward to do better. That’s really the litmus test- did a person do their best for who they were and who they reasonably could have been? With resources and culture like we have now, things like this are mistakes children if the future could expect most parents to be aware of and be able to do better.
It’s kinda a neat typo because it brought on the discussion in your reply- which I again am very happy to hear. I have no issues with religion or raising children with religion, especially when it’s done in the way it sounds like you are. Like you say, asking questions and answering questions helps us learn and explore subjects and ourselves more.
I edited the original comment now so that it says “repetition” but for anyone coming a long later- I accidentally auto typed “religion” and didn’t correct it the first time.