Daniel Webster
If we work on marble, it will perish. If we work upon brass, time will efface it. If we rear temples, they will crumble into dust, but if we work upon immortal minds, and instill into them just principles, we are then engraving upon that tablet that which no time will efface but will brighten and brighten to all eternity.
—Daniel Webster
Me & My Grandbabies
Question:
Tell me why you prefer not to spank. I’m just curious why? Isn’t it a scriptural command to parents to spank? (Biblical chastisement)
Answer:
Basically, I don’t spank because the only time I feel enough anger to spank my child is when I am out of control emotionally. When I feel myself re-gaining control, I have no desire to hit or hurt anyone. So, I realize that the passion I feel that makes me want to spank comes from a source other than God. Self-control is the hallmark of a Christian.
More and more we are seeing children who just don’t reply when they are spoken to. (In fact, I have a daughter who occasionally falls into this category!) Shyness may be an excuse, but really it is not okay to be still when you are spoken to! Even for the young. What’s a mother to do?
First course of action is to do some training. This can be plenty of fun. Bring a few hats for props and some name tags to dress up your kids. “Mrs. Jones” can wear the flowered hat and “Mr. Jones” can wear a baseball cap, for example. Now, take turns having “Mr. Jones” introduce his “wife” to one of your family. Role play it first, so they know just what is expected. Then switch around and let everyone have a turn.
Louisa at Silver Falls, Oregon
The problem with being a mom is that you are always and ever being watched and copied. From what you read in the bathroom to how you act when a car cuts in front of you in traffic, your behavior is all being carefully recorded in the minds and hearts of your children.
I’d like for folks to say of me,
No matter where I roam,
“That child is nice and gentle—but
She’s sweeter far at home.
Julianna
When I was a little girl, I used to dream about living in the south during the Gone with the Wind era, when belles wore full, swishy dresses and used southern hospitality. It seemed ladies were sweet and genteel, and courtesy was the order of the day. Now that I’ve grown up (and studied the Civil War and got accustomed to air conditioning), I don’t think of living then so longingly, but I do still wish that ultra-courtesy was our culture’s style of interaction.
The world is getting rude.
Sometimes my ears yearn for those soft and fluid words that show our humanity: our belief in Christ and the worth of a soul. The virtues of unselfishness and patience. Ah, words of kindness . . .
Print them out and post them on your bathroom mirror. Practice saying them while you are in the shower, until they sound convincingly polite and loving. Use them all day long, as much as you can. Embrace them and make them part of your vocabulary. Expect your children to do the same. Teach your littlest toddler to say, “You go first” instead of “me first”.
Old Brother Higgins built a shelf
For the family Bible to rest itself
Lest a sticky finger or grimy thumb
Might injure the delicate pages some.
He cautioned his children to touch it not,
And it rests there still with never a blot . . .
And the Higgins tribe are a careless lot.
His neighbor, Miggins, built a shelf.
“Come, children,” he said, “and help yourself.”
Now his book is old and ragged and worn,
With some of the choicest pages torn
Where children have fingered and thumbed and read;
But of Miggins’ children I’ve heard it said
That each carries a Bible in his head.
Company’s coming . . . and it can be a bit nerve-wracking wondering just what your kids are going to say or do! Get them ready to host guests—or to be good, mannerly guests themselves—wherever you go!
