[SAHD] Parenting Lessons From Eden

Courtesy fanpop.com

Who better to learn parenting lessons from than humanity's Ultimate Parent?

As a new parent I have discovered that people often give you tips, books, etc. on how to be a better parent.  Naturally some advice is better than others, but the best guidance I have found comes from our Ultimate Parent, God Himself.  Here are some lessons I discovered from where it all began, the Garden of Eden.

Create the Best Possible Environment

This one falls in the "too obvious to be seen" category.  I didn't see it at first either, but it makes a lot of sense.  God wanted the best for His kids so he made them the best home possible.  Now many of us may not have a lot of options regarding where we live, but that doesn't mean we can't be creative in our current situation.  A great way to get creative is to get your kids involved in the process.  You may not get a lot of feasible ideas, but at least you're spending time with them.  While you're spending time with them, be sure to . . .

Maintain Their Innocence

This point may be a bit controversial for some.  So much is said how we should not shelter our children and how we should prepare them for the the "real world".  However, look at what God did with His kids.  God purposely told Adam and Eve to avoid the tree that would give them the knowledge of evil, which brings us to our next point.

Give Simple Rules to Follow

God gave three basic commands to His kids: Be fruitful and increase in number, Fill and subdue the earth, and especially Don't eat from this one tree.  A possible application of this principle is instead of getting our kids to follow a litany of rules, get them to follow one simple rule, Do what your parents tell you to do (I know, I know, easier said than done, but one dream, can't he?).  Ultimately God's kids didn't listen to Him, but there is a silver lining for us even in that situation.

Don't Treat Yourself Too Harshly

Hey, if even God's kids didn't listen to Him, if for some strange reason our kids don't listen to us, we shouldn't take that as an indictment against our parenting skills. Children ultimately make their own choices that are beyond their parents control.  However, there is one part where parents have a lot of control.

Don't Avoid Punishment

Now no good parent wants their children to suffer, but when God's kids disobeyed Him, He simply had no other choice. He could have simply excused them because He is God, and can do whatever He wants, but that didn't happen.  Without some punishment, from that point forward, nobody (esp. Satan) would have taken God seriously.  When for whatever reasons parents avoid punishment that only erodes their authority and emboldens their children to try something worse.  Notice also that the punishment was simply allowing them to experience the consequences of their actions.  Something to think about, and while you're thinking . . .

Think More About God
 
While you may not agree with all of my applications, I hope that I have gotten you to think more about what lessons we can learn from the Bible, and I also hope that you take more time to read it for yourself.

What lessons regarding parenting (or anything else for that matter) have you learned from the Bible?  Share your discoveries in the comments section below.

[SAHD] Diaper-Changing Song

For some reason I often have this song in my head when I'm changing a diaper.  I guess I saw too many reruns of the Bunch while I was growing up.



There's actually a lot of truth in the lyrics, which go as follows.

Autumn turns to winter,
And winter turns to spring.
It doesn't go just for seasons you know,
It goes for everything.

The same is true for voices,
When boys begin to grow.
You gotta take a lesson from Mother Nature,
And if you do you'll know.

[chorus]
When it's time to change, then its time to change
Don't fight the tide, come along for the ride, don't you see
When it's time to change, you've got to rearrange
who you are into what you're gonna be.

Day by day, it's hard to see the changes you've been through
A little bit of living, a little bit of growing all adds up to you
Every boy's a man inside, a girl's a woman too
And if you wanna reach your destiny, here's what you've got to do

[chorus]

Autumn turns to winter,
And winter turns to spring.
It doesn't go just for seasons you know,
It goes for everything.

The same is true for voices,
When boys begin to grow.
You gotta take a lesson from Mother Nature,
And if you do you'll know.

Hope you enjoyed your trip down memory lane, and have groovy day.

[SAHD] What I Learned From My Baby

Courtesy science-essentials.org

The title gives you a clue as to why I haven't posted in a while.

Not long ago in a place not far from where I live, my baby daughter was born.  As events sometimes go, I am now a stay-at-home dad (and no, I have not seen "Mr. Mom").  This prompted me to start a new element of this blog  (hence the acronym in the title).  I toyed with the idea of starting a new blog for the parenting stuff, but figured to stick with this one (although that may change in the future).

I had heard it said that parents learn as much from their children as their children learn from them.  A thought I did not fully understand until I had one of my own.  Here are a few of the lessons I have learned so far.

Realize Your Helplessness

In the Bible, God refers to Himself as our Father.  This name is not so much a means of depicting His gender, but more as a means of clarifying roles.  God takes care of us, and we get taken care of by Him. The main lesson I learned in this area is our utter helplessness without God.  My daughter is completely helpless, she cannot clothe herself, bathe herself, or feed herself.  She even occasionally has difficulty passing gas.  Such is the state of humanity without God's care.  We often deceive ourselves with delusions of self-sufficiency. We would have a much better life if we would let go of this delusion and let God be in control of our lives

Correct Communication is Crucial

Like many infants, my daughter has a very limited vocabulary, which makes understanding what she wants/needs quite challenging.  When she starts crying I often find myself playing a somewhat stressful guessing game.  If only she could tell me right away her need then everyone would be happier.  However, this is not possible given her limited skill set.  In the same way, we have to be understanding of other people if they don't communicate exactly the way we would like them to communicate.  Many people (both male and female) simply lack proper communication skills.  We need to be patient and do our best to understand what they are attempting to tell us.

Don't be Counterproductive

This one goes right along with the previous item because many times since I do not know what my daughter wants, she does not get fed exactly on her preferred time table.  Many times when this happens she will often gain such momentum with her crying that even though the food is there for the taking, she would rather cry than take it, which, of course, makes her more hungry which makes her more angry.  Too often I have to get her to calm down so that she can eat the food she so desperately wants.  How many times do we get so involved in our complaining that we waste valuable time and energy that could have been used to actually accomplish our goals?

So that's it for now.  I'm sure there will be more lessons in the future, so stay tuned.  In the mean time, what lessons have you learned from your (or other people's) children?