How To Raise Perfect Children (More Or Less)

Step 1. Stop being human.

Seriously now... as mother to four little cupcakes, How To Be A Good Parent is something of a preoccupation of mine these days. I often ponder how best to raise these little girls as (hopefully) God-fearing adults overflowing with integrity and love of their fellow man.

I have been wont to bemoan the lack of detail in the bible about correctly raising children. There are just a few very general instructions to parents - no specifics about when to introduce dairy or how to potty train... Perhaps because such things really aren't that important after all.

Just today, though, I've had an epiphany. The bible doesn't lack detail about parenting at all, it is simply (being a perfect book inspired by the very Creator of the universe) ... efficient. You see, there's this verse that goes; "foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of correction will drive it far from him." (Proverbs 22:15) I was thinking about this verse again today when it occurred to me how much detail is in this verse alone. It tells me that I need to use a rod to correct my child whenever he (or she, in my case!) is foolish. The rest of the bible is absolute bursting with references to fools and foolishness that define for me exactly when I need to administer the "rod of correction". Easy!

Only, of course, it isn't easy because the hard bit about being a Mum for me is actually Paying Attention and *noticing* when my children are being foolish. I let an awful lot of teaching opportunities slip by me because I'm off in my little world. That is something that I can - with God's holy spirit - work on, though.

There are other verses that deal with bringing up children as well, of course. Deuteronomy 6:7 instructs us : "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." Here also is a wealth of information since the "them" we are to teach diligently to our children refers to the commandments God gave to the Israelites through Moses.

There are a number of other verses that refer specifically to bringing up children that I may "talk" about another time, but even just those two verses provide an incredible foundation for being a responsible and loving parent. We need to both teach (that is, intentionally teach, not as a reaction to misbehaviour) and lovingly (and let me emphasize lovingly, not because we're embarrassed or annoyed or outraged or hurt) correct. Phew! It's no wonder I'm so tired by the end of each day!

So maybe I'm not quite on my way to raising perfect children, but it's not for lack of information. After all, I have 24-hour access to the ultimate parenting resource, the Bible.