There’s loads of parenting advice flying around the internet. Most,
like in THIS article, is very helpful.
But so often it seems certain bits of advice are missing. That might be
because I’m way off the mark, but I’ve personally found these 5 bits of advice,
whilst a bit obscure, helpful, so I thought I’d share them with you:
1. Watch TV with them
It can be so easy to
let the kids watch TV whilst I get a bit of a lie in, or make the dinner, or
catch up on Facebook. The problem is, you don’t always know what they are
watching. Watching Frozen the other day was interesting – why do the girls have
tiny waists and huge eyes? What is this magical curse that Elsa can’t control?
Watching with kids is
a great way of both seeing what they are watching, but also talking with them
about it. Leaving them to watch alone when we don’t know what’s on means we
leave our kids to the worldview and even mercy of programmers and filmmakers –
and why would I trust them an inch?
2. Sponsor a child
We have started to
sponsor a little girl from a war-torn African country who is the same age as my
daughter. As well as really helping this girl, it is just a great way to teach
our kids. It makes poverty personal. It exposes my kids to need. We plan to eat
like she does at least once a month to empathise more with her. We can write to
her – the kids love it!
Most of all it opens
my kids eyes to what God is doing in the world and shows that, just like with
throwing those starfish back in the sea, they can make a difference. You can
sponsor a child at http://www.micahscall.org.uk/sponsor
or http://www.compassionuk.org/.
3. Do daily devotions with them
Kids are influenced by
our culture every minute of every day. Fine; but rather than moan and be
passive, we can actively do something about it. So why not soak them in the
Bible while they’re your kids in your house? In other religions a high value is
placed on gathering around a holy book and explaining teachings. The Bible
commands us parents in Deuteronomy 6:7 to teach God’s law to our children
diligently. How many of us actually do this?
Most parents seem to take the view
that sitting children down for 5 minutes is too much to expect. Well, as
someone who works in child development I can tell in the vast majority of cases it isn’t. With some
persistent training, even a 1 year old is perfectly capable of this discipline
after only a few days.
There are lots of
age-appropriate resources out there to help make it short, fun and beneficial
(see below). Establishing a family routine helps, be it after dinner or after
breakfast – whenever suits you best.
You don’t have to do
it at a table. ‘Devotions’ can be done throughout the day, interpreting life as
you experience it and discussing topics as they come up and applying biblical
truth to them.
4. Worship with them
Get your little ones
used to singing/praising with you - both at home and at church. Let them know
that you worship as a family. From an early age, hold them as you sing at
church. Children are developmentally capable of managing 10-20 minutes of being
held or standing next to you in church as you sing. Have high expectations of
them and they will rise to them.
Allowing them to run
off or play with toys says that what is going on isn’t for them; it says to
them that they need to be entertained whilst adults get on with their business.
However child
unfriendly your service is, let me encourage you, engage your children in
worship. Bring instruments. Ask the service leaders to consider the age
demographics of the church rather than hoping the kids will keep quiet and let
the adults get on with ‘serious’ worship.
5. Read something
Making time to read something, however brief, can be that pick-me-up when things are really tough. There's some great resources out there. Here's a summary of just a few:
For parents
Gospel-centred Family – Moll and Chester
– well worth working through these short chapters
You can download these short e-books HERE which are GOLD
Family Worship by Joel Beeke
Devotions
Beginning with God and The Beginners Bible – fun
5 minute devotions with stickers! Great for age 1-5.
Table Talk – very similar but for slightly older
children
Long Story Short – brilliant resource for a
daily family devotion
The Jesus Storybook Bible – we’ve only just
starting using this and wish we’d started sooner. An amazing way of reading the
Bible to your kids.
Memorisation
Some good articles:
What about you? Anything to add to the above or to the resource list?
Have you found any of these resources helpful?
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