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Sunday I spent some time going through my files and ran across a reference to this article from the July 1996 Ensign. I contemplated writing my own regrets but as I thought about doing it the process seemed painful in a way. As I read through this article I think most of these ideas would be on my list. The world is changing. We must be more valiant than ever in instilling within our children a knowledge and love of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not enough just to take your children to church anymore. Young parents--I pray you will never have regrets.
This is funny that you posted this, I have actually been thinking about writing a blog on this same topic. I've thought about it so much in the past few months waiting for number 2. I am excited to try some new tactics and see how they rub off on the entire family. Luckily, you can always keep parenting even when your kids are grown. I find now that when my mom does something or says something I thought she would never say or do it impresses me more that it would have when I was a less impressionable child/teenager.
ReplyDeleteYes, these are tougher times to parent in with even greater challenges than we had. With age, and hopefully wisdom, I have learned to stop second-guessing the way we raised our family. We love the Lord and our kids knew it; we prayed to the Lord and our kids knew it; we read our scriptures and our kids knew it; most importantly we believed strongly in serving others and our kids saw that example every day as they observed us. We gave our kids unconditional love even when they were making wrong choices, all the while standing for the standards we believe in. We made it comfortable for them to come to us with any problem or question. Could we have had Family Home Evenings more regularly, as well as more regular family prayer, fasting, scripture study, etc. etc. etc. Of coarse we could have, but we did the best we could at the time .Although our children are not all active in the Church currently, they tell us regularly that they think we are the greatest and most awesome parents ever and they could not possibly be the successful people they are now without us as parents. They are good, kind, hard-working people of integrity and that's more than I can say for some who have gone through the temple, etc. We have the chance to continue to teach by example, and advise and consult when asked. I have LDS friends who did all the "must do"things when raising their kids, but cannot seem to love unconditionally, and when one or more of their kids leave the path of the Church, those parents lose their relationships with those kids because of their judgmentalism. Lets give ourselves a pat on the back for giving parenthood our all and go on with lovingly supporting our children. Charmaine, I will always remember the wise words you passed on to me about only being able to teach others as much as they are willing to accept; and to most importantly show unconditional love.
ReplyDeleteI believe that regrets must come with the territory. I haven't even gotten very far yet, and still find that regrets happen almost daily. I regret not spending more time with my last, ever growing little boy who can still my attention so easily if I just allow it. I regret raising my voice over "spilled milk". I regret not listening to them so many times, knowing deep down that their wisdom is surely more insightful than my own. Everyday brings new challenges with new regrets. But at the end of the day, I am so greatful that I have them around still to wrap their forgiving arms around me and encourage me to be a better mom, a better person tomorrow. I love you Charmaine. Thank you for always posting such uplifting and meaningful words.
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