RR and SS - What exactly are they?
Well in our home they are the maturity mantra. One thing I've learned as a parent is that kids like lessons that are packaged well. What I mean by that is they will more readily retain what I'm trying to drive home be it a virtue, a skill, or a new chore if I package it in a simple clever way that gets their attention and helps them remember. We have a lot of "sayings" around here. This household definitely has a culture and a language all its own. I firmly believe ALL homes should develop a culture and language for their kids to hold onto and to reference. It seems to me that this kind of thing makes my kids feel very grounded and very secure in their beliefs. The more we drive home these family mantras the more they just become a natural part of my kids' thinking.
A more recent mantra development came about when both my 2 older girls were starting to show a real interest in becoming "mature" They like the sound of that word. We got into a discussion about what appeals to them about "growing up" and "being mature". I LOVE these types of conversations with my kids! I LIVE for this stuff!! Any how it was obvious to me that they needed a better and deeper understanding of what it REALLY means to be a mature person. In order to grow into the young ladies they so strongly desire to become they need to know how to get from point A (a child) to point B (a mature young lady). That's where "double r double s " comes into play.
Respect
Responsibility
Self-Control (or Self-Mastery)
Sacrifice
These four things are all required if one is to grow and become a mature person. I reminded them that a larger body and bigger shoes do not qualify boys and girls for mature adulthood. Rather these four things are the qualifiers. So it is in fact true that the more they develop RR and SS they can in fact become at the ages of 10 and 8 more "mature" than many 40 or 50 year olds out there!!! They LOVED the sound of that!!! So that's a great incentive for them.
We of course discussed each 'R' and each 'S' in great detail. I am sure to insert it DAILY into our lives as a family. "That was very double 'r' double 's' of you Morgan." "Mary Grace you are doing such a great job of sacrificing right now - you sure are becoming more and more mature." They just love to see the real connection between their development of these 4 things and my reminding them of their growth and their getting closer and closer to becoming a WOMAN. That's just magical for an 8 or 10 year old to think about. They feel it intensely when they fail as well. "Are you being responsible? - that seems quite childish doesn't it?" etc etc
In this day in age kids grow up in so many artificial ways and think they're "grown up". In fact many adults seem to miss the boat entirely when it comes to being a REAL grown up. We focus far too much attention on sexuality and clothing and academic and athletic ability. We measure our shoe sizes, our ACT and SAT scores, and our bank accounts, but we've completely forgotten about the CHARACTER of a person and how one "measures up" in the areas of RR and SS. If my children can hang onto these lessons and take something away from them I'll be a happy happy mother indeed.
Jesus help me to reinforce all the mantras I come up with by using my own example as this is the best "tool" I have in shaping my kids.
No comments:
Post a Comment