In this day and age children are a hobby. They are part of a bucket list…something to do before we die.
Get a high paying job – CHECK
Visit another country – CHECK
Have a baby – CHECK
Eventually, they are relegated to the status of “pet”, we put them in “quality kennels”, pat ourselves on the back for making such sound decisions, and head off to pursue the next thing on the list.
The hand that rocks the cradle, truly does rule the world. But guess who is rocking the cradle? Not mama.
Oh sure, she spends the evening hours and weekends rocking the cradle–that is, if her children aren’t spending their evening hours immersed in homework and their weekend hours immersed in ballgames. But, truth be told, she cannot compete with the 14,000+ hours the government spends “rocking the cradle” during her offspring’s childhood.
Recently, I saw how different our world has become due to government intervention in the raising of our children. A couple of friends of mine were drug through the mud due to their choice to breastfeed past infancy. They were told their toddlers were nearly “school-age” and how unacceptable breastfeeding at that age was. I had a hard time figuring out why someone would think these children were “school-age”; until one of the moms pointed out to me that children now enter school at age 3.
We’ve gone from ROCKING the cradle to ROBBING the cradle!
Earlier and earlier our children become wards of the state. Oh sure, the motives of the government seem pure. Things like early intervention for poverty-stricken families and the need to raise test scores to be able to compete in the global market are touted as good reasons to snatch children from their homes in toddlerhood, but have we seen any positive effects from all of this?
No.
If anything, we’ve seen parents gladly give up their parental rights to strangers who “know better” how to raise youngsters. Does no one see a problem with this? Somehow a teaching certificate or a government title makes a total stranger better equipped to teach (and essentially raise) a child I physically gave birth to? What kind of outlandish logic is that?
Call me a control freak. Call me a radical conservative. Call me subversive. Call me an overprotective mama.
Call me what you will…
I’ll do the rocking myself, thank you very much.
Resources:
Tapeworm’s State of the Legion Address
Voddie Baucham’s The Children of Caesar
DVD
Government Nannies by Cathy Duffy
Amen, Amen, Amen! I could not agree more. And while I’m at it, I am so tired of hearing people talk of “sheltering” like it’s a bad thing! Um, yes, I am sheltering my children. It’s my job, as a mother, to shelter and protect, thankyouverymuch!
Thanks for this great post! You can call me an overprotective mama anyday! I always say, “If I don’t protect them, noone else will!” :0)
Amy,I must of missed this post over the summer!
Great job! You are a teriffic writer! Well said!
Amen sister!
Peace and Blessings,
Georgiann
Hello
WOW I just love this post! I had a bad eperience last year with my oldest son and my young daughter (Josh is turning 7, Imogen is turning 6) – at school it is apparently acceptable to teach about Halloween and also do classroom celebrations for it. I have taught my children that Halloween celebrates spirits, magic, evil (I was trying to put it into a context they could understand) and does not celebrate life, love and the Lord. Because it isn’t about good and about God, we do not celebrate Halloween and no, they wouldn’t be dressing up as a witch or anything like that and they were not going to the school Halloween disco either. Imogen came home two days later almost crying – “Mummy you lied to me!”
I asked her what was wrong and how did I lie to her, I don’t tell lies…
“I told my teacher that we don’t celebrate Halloween, she laughed and called me silly, she told me to get over it and it was just a bit of fun… it isn’t bad mama, it is fun – but you said we’re not allowed. Why can’t we have fun too?”
Trying to keep their faith and lives in line with the Lord, especially in the public school system (I live in Australia) is very difficult. I started off this year homeschooling them, but due to my back injury I had to re-enrol them back into the school because I simply am unable to care for them, educated them full-time, keep house etc, the timing is just not right. It broke my heart but it is necessary at this point in time until I am better.
Children are no longer the child of their parents, they are a child of the State (or nation etc) and because of not having obtained a university degree in Education, us parents are often made to feel as though we cannot teach our children effectively. No one knows my babies better than me, no one loves them and wants what is best for them more than I do (except the Lord). It really rubs me the wrong way when I receive notes from the teachers informing me that I must teach my child to read using their techniques instead of how I know they can learn best individually, I am expected to attend information sessions to teach me how to teach them to read, I am expected to support the teacher and the classroom and their ways of doing and learning… to me this is a total reversal! The teacher and classroom should be liasing with me to help support life at home and not the other way around.
Okay, hopping off my soapbox now, and looking forward to the day I am able to bring my kiddies home
Warmest blessings,
Angela
I will be praying for you, Angela. Such a tough place to be.
I wonder too not only at the quality of life these children will have but at the quality of life the parents will have when it is their turn to be elderly. Will their children care for them or will the grandparents be handed off to some institution in much the same way the children were?
I have found parenting to be one of my hardest jobs. I have grown so much as an individual by taking on this job. Maybe the best and fairest leaders of the future will be the ones who parented their own children and grew into selfless people with some idea of discernment of good and evil.
Or maybe we will be lead by people who are only out for themselves, willing to hand any responsibility over to someone else, and how will those people who didn’t gain wisdom through the school of hard knocks of parenting have the wisdom to discern who will harm them or help them?
Ok, bit of a leap, and maybe not within my lifetime, but I am hoping that homeschooling becomes a generational habit in my family. I hope my grandchildren and great grandchildren will have involved parents and grow up to be wise and involved parents too. I think parenting will give them a maturity and wisdom that hardly any other venture can do.
Best wishes
Jen in Oz
Just for the record I enjoyed your post. However I will have you know putting our children in Public school does not make us bad parents. I am a stay at home mom, who homeschooled our daughter until grade 3. She’s a social butterfly who was getting bored and giving me a hard time. She went into school in grade 3 she’s now in grade 10. Our relationship is better then ever. She’s had some amazing christian teachers. In grade 4 her teacher told them why we celebrate Christmas and Easter. Halloween as NEVER been celebrated in our schools, however they do have a Christmas program and yes it’s called a Christmas program!
I truly respect those of you who chose to homeschool your children. I have several friends who do or who have done so. However, there are some of us who know our limitations – we know our children will be better served by their teacher than by ourselves. I consider myself a good mom. However I realized that I would never succeed in teaching my daughter and keeping my own sanity. So as you ask us not to judge you, please do not judge us!!!!
I see that this is an old post, but I have to disagree here. There are situations and families where ward of states benefit. I agree it was ridiculous children’s services was called for breastfeeding a toddler. But my parents fostered (which is how they got my little brother and me). In my case parental rights were terminated after I came back from a weekend visit with hand shaped bruises and in tears. When asked what happened, I said, “Momma hit me and Daddy touched my privates.” A doctor exam confirmed my father had raped me. In my case, it was excellent children’s services were called. I was put into care when my parents were in homeless and caring for me on the streets. I was in a t-shirt, diaper hadn’t been changed for days in the dead of winter. My foster family has since adopted me.
Nicole. I agree with you that there are many social services that are doing amazing things for many children in exceptional situations. I have several friends who foster children in their homes but I think this is a different situation altogether. I think the point here is meant for those not in situations like yours, in most situations it is best for moms to be loving, educating, and developing character in the lives of their own children and not sending them off to government run institutions. It is also important for loving families to reach out and love children in need. So glad that you were rescued from that situation!!
Amy, I LOVE this post. I totally agree. I think many people just do what is expected and don’t really question the norm. My parents pulled my brothers and I from a private Christian school in the 80s and began to homeschool us. So grateful for that intervention in my life and my mom doing the raising!!