Our society today gets stranger every day and more different from how I grew up. In addition, many things have changed and with that, I had to change what I teach my kids. Some for the good and some not so good.
When the #ME movement was thunderously taking hold of social media and while it was a good thing for so many women, it made me nervous as a mother of two boys. And I had to piot and be more aware of what I teach my kids about women.
Then there was the topic of Transgender women using the “non-assigned at birth” bathrooms.
So what is it that I should teach my kids about being responsible citizens, who are both caring and sadly at the same time guarded?
I turned to my faith.
My upbringing was rather different from many others, my father was not the ideal role model. In today’s world, he would be considered a “toxic male.” However, there are some values and moral compass lessons that I took from him to teach my children.
Regardless of sex, I tell my children to be considerate of others. Open doors for anyone, especially those who are struggling with a handicap or age. But in some instances to please ask first.
From my faith, I’ve shown my children that regardless of who we are on the outside sometimes we aren’t that person on the inside. And we are all going through something so to be patient with people and offer assistance when needed. At the end of the day, regardless of religion, sexual orientation, sexual identity, race, etc, we are all people and children of (fill in the higher power you may or may not believe in)
I also show my children that despite the nastiness that is all around us in the world there are still good people who are trying to make a difference, and they should be a part of that change.
Take Pope Francis, he is the head of the Catholic Church. Basically the president. And he still upholds the piety teachings but also a life of poverty. He rides the bus, in Rome.
There he feels he can connect with the homeless and the poverty-stricken and those who need Pope Francis more.
This is what I teach my sons. I want them to know that they are a small piece in a larger puzzle and they should take care of each other, regardless of their background.
Another thing I teach my children is to forgive. It’s ok to get angry and upset with someone, but that can debilitate a person. You have to allow yourself to forgive not just the person who wronged you but also yourself. Regardless of what they did.
And I mean that.
It took a lot of self-help books, research, and self-discovery for me to realize that the best form of mental health is embracing forgiveness. More as an act of letting go in some cases.
I am hoping that these lessons will help me to create upstanding gentlemen who take care of each other and people that they don’t know.
But don’t think I’m not showing them some street smarts. I don’t want them to be taken advantage of, but I want them to be the solution, not the problem.
