Amy Green had such a great question- she wanted to know about balance. She wanted to know how I decided on how to balance material for kids, young adult and teens on tv. At what age I decided what shows or programs were too early to be introduced. How do I STILL let my child be a part of the popular culture and whatever their friends are into and STILL be a good example.
Well, this is hard. Parenting is hard and it just keeps getting harder. I honestly thought it would get easier, NO, what a joke. We are here to be our children’s parents, not their friends. I knew that from them beginning. My Mother always tried to be my friend. That turned out awful. I needed a parent, we all do.
Gracie’s Dad and I raised Gracie in Church together. After he passed away, I carried that on. I know that everyone is not a Christian and we all have our own point of views. We just love the Lord.
There has always been certain movies that she just has not been able to watch. That is whether it is age appropriate or even if it is and all her friends are doing it. She just plainly says, My Mom says that’s not a movie for our family to watch. There are books she can not read, I just won’t let her. She has learned which one’s not to even ask about. When her friends says something about it, she says the same thing, that is not a book for our family.
We have never seen Harry Potter movie or read any of their books, all of the kids at school think we are just weird. I have usually subbed at Gracie’s at school and I can usually explain. Gracie does a good job.
I may not have answered this the way you wanted it answered, but I answered it from our point of view. We live our quiet little, sheltered life. We don’t bother anybody. We attend Church on Sundays and Wednesdays. It’s just sometimes, our lifestyle doesn’t coincide with everyone else’s lifestyle. No one has made fun of her at all, honestly! It works for us and you will find what works for you. It just takes a little trial and error.
If you do live in a bubble, Sonya, I want to be there with you. I actually let my son read the Harry Potter books and a number of other ones that I didn’t think were an issue. I didn’t allow Jesus into my life until my son was 12 and even after I did, there is a large learning curve. But Jesus is patient and he waited until I was ready to listen and that’s when all of these things were removed from my son’s life. But he’s okay with that and now we are using those books as points of reference about why we are avoiding certain things. God finds a way to make it work out. You know?
Where I’ve always been the ogre parent is with video games. At 16 my son is still not allowed to play a lot of games that other boys have been playing since they were 8. But he doesn’t seem to mind. He tells his friends that he prefers to play these other games (that just so happen to be appropriate) and usually his friends find out that those games are more fun. Go figure.
Oh Michelle,
All parents are different and that was what I was trying to say. We’ve never been into video games either. Like I said, we just live in our own little bubble, we are weirdo’s, except at our Church. I’m SO happy that God is in your life now. You are right, God uses everything to work thing out in the end.
I’m sure you are an AWESOME Mom. This is just the way I do things. Gracie is just used to this way. I’m just a fuddy duddy. I grew up thinking my Grandma was one. I didn’t grow up in Church, but Grandma would always try to get my Mom and Dad to go. Now, I’m the fuddy duddy 🙂
O my I am the same way! I never let my kid watch Harry Potter. I thought I was the only one. I have done the best I can. If when she is older she does that’s on her but while she was in my house I did what I thought was right. We too are a christian home.
Oh Suzie,
Sometimes, I think we just live in a bubble. I’m glad I’m not the only parent that feels this way.