A Mother Questions Her Goals for Her Children

What do I really want for my children? Seems that if I am going to home educate them I should have some sense of what we want our children to know and what we want our children to prioritize. Should we concentrate on character & obedience before we even start academics? They would likely fall behind, at least for a little while, in some academics. But when their obedience and strong character will help them excel when academics are introduced.

Now, of course, academics are already introduced. I have taught them to read, they can count, Christopher can add and subtract. He's working on fractions & more than v. less than in seconds.

What we skipped was training them to respond and obey the first time. We have also skipped over the through training on some of the behaviors we now expect. So they get frustrated at what they think we want & it seems like too much. We get frustrated because we can't get them to shut up long enough to hear what we are saying. So we are all just a dysfunctional circle of frustration.

Doesn't really sound too biblical, does it?

I know what kind of mommy I want to be. I know what I want my children to be. I want to pass Godly laws & treasures and blessings. I want them to have a strong work ethic and to not be afraid of working hard. And to work hard for the glory of God not because of an immediate pay off. 

But how does one do that? How can I keep cool and basically start from here what I should have established in toddlerhood? I can start correctly from the beginning with Matthew. But A) I am not going to just give up on my older children; and B) if I did do that, that would negate any chance I have of training Matthew properly. 

As I write this I am not in any way passing judgement on any others. Maybe if I get it all together some day then I will have time to pass judgement. Hee hee

I just wonder what our boot camp is going to need to look like. I wonder if hubby & I have it in us to hold strong and win. 

Mainly I am just praying. I tell God that I know what my biblical role as wife and mother is. I know what is expected of me and I know that in some ways I have failed miserably. So I pray to God and ask him to show me how to do this, and mostly for the courage and strength to take it to the finish. If I can get the kids to obey me, then they will learn to follow the Lord in life.

I love the question of what is our goals for our children. Do we care what college they go to? How do we feel about them marrying? What, ultimately, are we raising our kids to do? I think John & I would both say that we want our children to be Christians. Then there are the things I see that I want. I love the idea of being in a family where we play our biblical roles. I love to be John's helpmeet. I love for him to lead our family, to set our path. I want him to be our preacher, profit, provider, and protector.

Funny, getting to where I want to be seems so very hard. And it may be hard. I am sure that life will be filled not with trials so much as opportunities for God to mold me some more. But really, it's quite simple. Open the bible, and then read.

SoI guess I will try that.