25/09/2020
FROM THE TERRACE: MAKING OUR KIDS HAPPY
Proverbs 19:18 ESV - Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death.
Happiness is a relative word but for many - if it is for the kids, it is absolute.
But think about this: Eagles nurture up to 12 weeks from hatching their young until they are strong to stand and flap their wings. The eaglets mimic what there parents do. To motivate the eaglets to fly, the parents withhold food waiting for them to move to the next branch to perch. The eaglets need to get to full survival mode, i.e. strong to fly and hunt food. Once the young eagles are flying, they still have a lot to learn before they can survive on their own. They'll fly away from the nest learning to hunt and keep returning to the nest for weeks.
Uncanny but nature mimics people's ways. What's the point?
We are not called to make our kids "happy" - not our job. Of course, when my grandkids visit us, I would usually them My Rules, My House. And my Rule number 2 is I want my kids to be happy.
I don’t make it easy for them; they need to learn to be happy while with me. And I try incredibly hard not to give in.
This is not popular to most of us but this is the way I see it - their need to happiness are: failure, disappointment, handle the hard issues, learn how to fall - gracefully so they can get back up, figure things out, work things out, wrestle with the hard and know they can safely come to mom or dad or grandpop/mom for guidance.
As parents or grandparents, our job is to lead them towards their happiness not spoonfed them by showing our examples - like those parent eagles to their eaglets:
Show them we actually struggle.
Show them how we work through.
Show them how we handle conflict through healthy conversation.
Show them that it isn’t easy for us.
Show them how when we fail, we get back up.
Show them how we deal with disappointment.
Show them how we handle the hard.
Our actions are the best teacher for them to be respectful, hardworking and compassionate. It’s not about avoiding the problems but tackling them taking them by the horns - skirting around it, it’s about showing them through it. Proverbs 22:6 - Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Me - am rooting for every parent and kid to be eagles too. Remember Hebrews 12:11 - For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
My daily prayer is simple: “Lord, let me show them happy, the hard way.”
Hunger gives a young eagle the push to leave their nest and learn how to fly. Subscribe: http://bit.ly/BBCEarthSub Watch more videos from BBC Earth: Planet E...
