I have heard many parents say they do not want to force their beliefs on their kids. I have news.....we all do it. No matter what our beliefs are,we can not help but influence our kids with them.
I mostly hear it from people who do not believe in God or attend a church. They say they do not do that because they want their kids to choose for themselves. While I understand that and agree to some extent, we still are going to influence our children's beliefs. The parent who does not believe in God is going to instill in their kids that God does not exist. There is a good chance that child will never believe. The parents that go to church every Sunday and take their kids, are going to instill in their kids that God is real and true. No matter which way you go, you are going to instill your beliefs in your kids. How could you not?
I have also noticed that we give our kids things we wish we would have had when we were kids. This is not necessarily things like more love and attention either. For example, Emma has every single Care Bear. I do not think she is missing even one. Why does she have them all? Because I wanted them all as a child. She did not really care that much but I was determined that she would have them all. So then *I* could have them all. I did have a couple Care Bears when I was younger and I was by no stretch hurting for things. But for some reason I felt this need to get them all.
Another thing I do is buy Dixie cups. I always wanted them as a kid and my mom said there were a waste of money. We used regular cups when brushing our teeth and washed them regularly. Once I had my own house and kids, guess what? I buy Dixie cups. I love them. And now I can have them.
I am sure there are other things as well. Nothing huge really or of any real significance, but things we do all the same. It makes sense that we would want our kids to have the childhood we thought we should have, even if our childhood was just fine. We all want more for our kids in some way. And we all influence and force our beliefs on them no matter how hard we try not to. It is just one of the many things we do as parents.
I mostly hear it from people who do not believe in God or attend a church. They say they do not do that because they want their kids to choose for themselves. While I understand that and agree to some extent, we still are going to influence our children's beliefs. The parent who does not believe in God is going to instill in their kids that God does not exist. There is a good chance that child will never believe. The parents that go to church every Sunday and take their kids, are going to instill in their kids that God is real and true. No matter which way you go, you are going to instill your beliefs in your kids. How could you not?
I have also noticed that we give our kids things we wish we would have had when we were kids. This is not necessarily things like more love and attention either. For example, Emma has every single Care Bear. I do not think she is missing even one. Why does she have them all? Because I wanted them all as a child. She did not really care that much but I was determined that she would have them all. So then *I* could have them all. I did have a couple Care Bears when I was younger and I was by no stretch hurting for things. But for some reason I felt this need to get them all.
Another thing I do is buy Dixie cups. I always wanted them as a kid and my mom said there were a waste of money. We used regular cups when brushing our teeth and washed them regularly. Once I had my own house and kids, guess what? I buy Dixie cups. I love them. And now I can have them.
I am sure there are other things as well. Nothing huge really or of any real significance, but things we do all the same. It makes sense that we would want our kids to have the childhood we thought we should have, even if our childhood was just fine. We all want more for our kids in some way. And we all influence and force our beliefs on them no matter how hard we try not to. It is just one of the many things we do as parents.
Comments
I never realized this unitl I tried to not get Dixie cups at Target one day. I lasted about a week with a regualr cup.