I'm Learning about Parenting

I am on a discovery of true parenting. Why is it that there is no training for parents? Yes, there are books and websites that can prepare a parent for the events of parenthood; ideas about children’s diet, sleep patterns, potty training, education…

But the actual parenting is not addressed. Parenting is so much more than events. I’d like to see an effort to help young parents understand parenting at a deeper level. For me the whys and philosophy and purpose behind my choices make a big difference.

Homeschooling has brought out a thinking about parenting that previously had not been there. The pressure to be THEE educator in Sierra and Weston’s lives because of where we live, has been a good force to help me understand parenting more.

I am reading a book, Upgrade by Kevin Swanson and it has helped me. It is a pro-homeschooling book and has much of the reasoning behind the homeschool movement documented, and lists some great reasons for homeschooling. However, for me, it has also helped me to consider homeschooling and extension of my parenting and not have it separated in my mind as, “education.”

The education of a child is the responsibility of the parent, whether they are sending their child to school, a co-op, a charter school, or homeschooling. American culture has life all separated into boxes- education in one, spiritual life in another, arts in another…

For each of those boxes, we have an option to outsource that training of our child: School for education, church for spiritual training, various extracurricular activities for hobbies, arts, or sports. While that is not necessarily bad, it is dangerous in some ways because it could sacrifice relationship time with my children and I think relationship is the key to education and parenting.

Furthermore, people are not separated into boxes, education is the preparation of the whole person. It is helping Weston and Sierra become successful adults. This will take specific help, training and education in every area from physical, to spiritual and beyond.

For example, speech therapy is yet another area to invest in my relationship with my daughter, thus strengthening my ability to train her and deepening our love and her faith in my care. This is great, but this type of training in every area is going to take it all--- all my time, all my thought, all my discipline and more.

This realization has caused me to know parenting is going to take everything I am and more than I am through Christ. Before, I really thought that the kids would become who they were meant to be without much direction on my part. It’s funny to actually write that down, but that has always been my idea. They should be independent to play alone, make up games, imagine and play, and follow their interests as they come. I think that independence is good; however now, I think it will take more of ME to parent and train them up so that they can be more than they could alone. That makes parenting, homeschooling, speech therapy, cooking with them and training them to be neater and whatever else comes much more exciting and purposeful.