I love blogging. It makes me think. There are blogs I read that make me think and then, I get to blog back. I’m living an examined life and much of it is due to blogging. Who woulda thunk it? I read about the question of appearing perfect to the kids on an online homeschool blog:
I’ve never wanted my children to think I was perfect, because then they’ll think they have to be perfect, too. I share the mistakes I’ve made, hoping they will be able to learn something through my errors.
Those two sentences are a profound summary of much of what I try to do and to be as a parent. I hope my kids will learn through me and most importantly, I hope that they’ll see that I try to keep learning. Sometimes, I have to learn the same lesson over and over again. Not because I’m dumb or a slow learner but because life’s lessons are both simple and hard. The principles are easy: it’s figuring out which principle to apply at which time is hard.
That blog post Never Let Them See you Sweat continues onto another parenting question that I agonize over. How much of my inner dialogue and confusion should I share with my children? The post doesn’t cover this question in depth, it summarizes: They don’t need to be privy to every agonizing step in the decision process, though. My thought is that it depends on the child’s age, the question, and a lot of other factors. It depends.
Young children need to feel safe and comforted. Older children are ready to start dealing with life’s complexities.
