the heart

I heard an interesting thought yesterday about parenting on a radio talk show. The speaker noted that an older lady noted to him that American parents are raising their kids with their heads and not their hearts.

He went on to explain that many parents today know all kinds of qualified, researched methods for raising their kids instead of just using a little common sense and doing what's best for their particular kids. It's true. The world is full of methods and kids who just need a bunch of their parents time to know they are important. There's the cry-it-0ut method and the family bed methods of getting kids to sleep (to name just a few). Some experts say that nursing a baby beyond a year is of no benefit except to pacify while others claim that nursing well into the first or second year has a long list of benefits. The time-out chair or spanking. Some claim a child's social well-being depends on maximum involvement in preschool, ECFE, dance class, gymnastics and play groups as soon as a child walks while others feel that a child should learn to be secure in his own home with his parent before he or she learns to be independent. And on it goes.

I frequently fall into line that if I read this book or hear this expert talk, I will be able to eliminate the behavior misdeeds of my children. I think God definitely has a sense of humor because while I haven't read everything on parenting, that which I have read rarely seems to apply to my specific dilemma. God creatively has given me three children who more often that not seem not to respond to any of the well-worn, researched methods of eliciting good behavior.

I hope that I am using more heart than head. It makes sense that the One who designed my kids has the best perspective on keeping them on the straight and narrow. That's not to say that a book or idea with God's principles on humankind once in a while isn't helpful for perspective.