Protecting Your Sons and Daughters
This Christmas season are you feeling insecure in a world with so much unrest, fear and hopelessness?
And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong.
John Lennon – So This Is Christmas Lyrics | MetroLyrics
One of our balancing acts as parents is teaching our children to trust people with a certain amount of awareness of the potentially untrustworthy person they may encounter. As a child’s sense of morality develops in preschool years, fairytales reveal the darker side of humans in supernatural characters such as a witch, troll or dragon. Occasionally your child gets blindsided by a schoolmate or teacher who gets pleasure out of causing pain. You may wonder how to promote trust, yet equip children for wise relationship choices. The following can give a sense of reassurance to some and possibly new insights to those who are struggling:
Believe what your child is saying, especially if you find them to be generally truthful.
Believe your own intuition, the Holy Spirit works through your gut sense about a person or situation. Follow through with a conversation with that person or about the event.
Value input from your immediate family, extended family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, daycare provider, friends) and the third circle of support – institutions such as school or church friends.
Keep your expectations of people at realistic level that is connected to your sense of their character, you can trust certain people with certain things, it is not a privilege of position.
When you are new to an institution – whether it is a church, school or social groups – keep your eyes and ears open. If you complain to the youth pastor that your son is watching pornography and the guy dismisses you, you have a right to wonder.
When your child has a special friend, make sure that you get to know them.
Talk to your children every day, hopefully several times a day, hug them and let them know that you love them. If you have to travel a lot, plan ahead to be present for ⅔ of their important days.
Show your children that truth must be delivered with love in order to stick.
Keep your promises to your children.
May you enjoy this season of Advent and have a sense of gratitude and awe for the Father’s gifts, including the greatest gift of all - God with us as a new born child, Jesus Christ.
