For this week,

Her character depends upon those she is with; but in good hands she will turn out a valuable woman.

– Emma.

The dilemma for any parent. We need to be the “good hands”. We want our children to become “valuable” people. Valuable, that is, in today’s sense, not in Jane Austen’s victorian mindset where being a valuable woman means being valuable in terms of her marriage prospects.

We are given this precious gift of a baby, and it is our responsibility to take that baby and raise them to be all that they possibly can be. An immense responsibility, in my opinion, and here I am, with that responsibility x 4…

Well, ok, so if 1 child is an immense responsibility, what does that mean for the responsibility of 4? Sounds like it will take nothing less than my whole life’s work.  It makes sense now, why my passion is for teaching. I always knew I wanted to teach,  but cashing in my classroom to spend my time with the 4 most important students I would ever have? That was news to me and it’s taking some getting used to.

For any new parent, the ugly side of the world begins to stand out and the world  becomes this scary, harsh place. Our heart instantly wants to protect our children from all of it. Unfortunately, life doesn’t work that way. Our children are going to face challenges, they are going to have defeats as well as triumphs. Our true task as parents, in my opinion, is to equip our children with the necessary tools to be able to handle the challenges that are set to come their way. This is really all we CAN do.

Here is a great little 4-minute video that sums up (in my opinion) our role as parents.

Have a great week!