I was sitting on the couch, half-listening to my four-year-old daughter mumbling to herself as she went potty (a normal occurrence). Normal until I heard those words come out of her mouth:
“What the H*ll!”
For a moment I thought I was hearing things (or hoping I was). “What did you say?” I asked her to come see me.
She repeated what I dreaded she had said. Of course, in all fairness, she had no idea what she was saying or why it was wrong. I explained why it was wrong and stressed the importance of her not saying it again.
When she went to bed I cried. I know that it is mostly due to pregnancy hormones wreaking havoc on my body at the moment, but I think it was more than that.
It reminded me of several things:
1. As parents, we only have control over what our little ones hear, say, and do … only so far. We can do everything in our power to shelter them from hearing bad words, seeing questionable things, etc. and they will still fail us.
2. It stressed the importance of our high calling as Christan parents. How we should continue to monitor what they watch on television.
3. She will be a teenager one day! My husband gently reminded me that this is only the beginning of our teaching and training. She will be a teenager one day (heaven help me)!
4. It got me thinking, because that is what us mommies do best. What can we do as parents? How do we know that we are doing our very best?
PRAY
Pray without ceasing for their little souls.
Pray specifically.
Pray fervently.
Pray sacrificially.
Pray unconditionally.
Pray faithfully.
LEAD BY EXAMPLE
Be the example they need to see! Do they see you praying? Reading your bible? Speaking kind words? Living a life of patience and humility?
GODLY MEDIA RESOURCES
There are so many godly resources out there! Here are a few of our favorites:
1) Veggie Tales (If you have never watched a Veggie Tales DVD you are missing out. Just sayin’!)
2) Really Woolly Kids (I received this DVD in the mail from Day Spring and my kids love it! We have a bible hour every morning and they always request to watch this.)
3) Seeds Family Worship Cd’s (Scripture set to music! We have all 5 of their Cd’s and have them all over the house and in our cars.)
4) Cedarmont Kids DVD and Cd’s (Awesome. Period.)
What do you do as parents? What do you think is important? Do you have any good resources to recommend?