Okay, here we go....
I've resisted doing a blog for a long time, although I've been thinking about it for probably a year now. I've wanted to write down my thoughts about raising children and this is a way to force me to do it. For the last week I've been writing blog posts in my head rather than falling asleep, which tells me that it's finally time to do this.
The first thing that I want to point out is that these are my thoughts that I want to record to help my children as they start their own families. There will be a lot of references to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because it is a part of who I am. If you choose to be offended by those references, please choose to not read this blog. (I guess that's if anyone reads this in the first place.☺) If you have something nice to say, please do. If you have something mean to say, please use your time in a more productive way rather than hurting someone's feelings (mine).
So here is the reasoning behind this blog: Other than the scriptures, there really aren't any truly practical manuals for raising children. I'm talking like the recipe books that include meals that your family will actually eat as opposed to the elaborate meals that make me say, "Yeah, right. My spaghetti/mac & cheese/hot dog-loving children will never eat that." I feel like I've learned so many things from actually raising my children and living through it. There are things that I wish I had done differently, and there are things that worked out really well and I think to myself, "Wow, that was awesome! Go me!" Because I can't go back and do things over with my experience-based knowledge (and I really don't want to start over by having more babies!), I decided that I want my children to benefit from what I've learned. I realize that they may or may not listen and learn from my mistakes/triumphs, but at least I will have tried to help. I've always tried to watch other people in various aspects of life to learn from them. There are actually several families who are about five years ahead of us in life that I've watched over the years. Sometimes I've thought to myself, "Yep, I am so doing that." or "Nope. That isn't working well. I will definitely not do that with my children." I am truly hoping that my children will learn from my experiences and not only incorporate my great ideas (I do have a few), but weed out and change the not-so-great things that we did or didn't do.
I have no idea of how consistent I will be with this blog. As I go through my day, things will just pop into my head about different things. I'm hoping I will take the time to capture those thoughts. I'm not the best at "fleshing out" my thoughts, however. I tend to make a statement and assume that others will understand everything that fits into that statement (in college, I wrote a five-page paper, while my friend's paper was thirty-five pages long--guess who got the better grade even though we covered the same points), but I am going to really try to write down all of my feelings and not assume that others will know what I'm saying. If something helps someone else along the way, that will make this even better!
My first thought (other than the book basket--I'll save that for another day) is that we did a good thing by giving our children a religious foundation. Both my husband and I are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and our membership is such a big part of our lives. It isn't just something we do on Sundays or when we think about it, it really is just who we are. It pretty much colors everything we do. We've taught our children that they are children of a Heavenly Father who knows them individually and loves them unconditionally. We've taught them to pray to Heavenly Father, that He will hear and answer their prayers. We've taught them that they have a Savior who atoned for their sins and their sorrows and who understands them and can help them throughout their lives. We've taught them why they are here on this earth, where they came from, and where they will go after this earth-life ends. Each of our children have been baptized into the Church and have developed a testimony of his or her own. Our oldest was sealed in the temple to her eternal sweetheart, two of our sons are serving missions to share this wonderful gospel with others in different parts of the world, and our two youngest are planning on serving missions. We pray everyday that our children will always remember the things that they have been taught and that they will stay true to those teachings.
I've learned that no matter what religion you choose, children need a religious foundation to ground them. They need to know that there is something bigger than just this earth. They need to know that there is a God who created all things, including them. They need to know that we are all children of God, which should make a difference in how we treat other people.
This I've Learned.
