Years ago we were having dinner with a member of our city council. He was a good man. He and his wife were doing well as parents. The subject of home schooling came up. Our children had never attended any kind of organized school. They were never on the government radar until they registered for college, my son at 15, my daughter at 13. They continue to do well.
We were encouraging him to consider home schooling his children. It is always a hard sell because people are so brainwashed about “socialization” and other mantras of public education. He offered what he thought would be the ultimate response, “It works for you because your children are so compliant.” We stared at him for a moment. Then my children started laughing. I don’t remember if my wife and I were able to control ourselves or whether we fell out of our chairs.
Our children knew the truth. We had the scars. They were anything but compliant. In fact I remember very clearly when my son, at 13 as tall as I am, reared himself up and told me that he wanted nothing to do with my God, with my beliefs or anything else I thought was important. My wife once took him to the police station to have the police assure him that we did have the right to make him clean his room. He wanted the telephone number of a lawyer so he could divorce the family. Somewhere in my files I have a note I am saving for a day of need in which he signed over all of his toys to me. Compliant? No, I don’t think so.
It wasn’t that they were compliant, it was that we were consistent. We did not lose sight of the knowledge that we were the adults and they were the children. W did not forget that God was on the throne and we were serving Him, not the local school board.
We are not finished. I was going to write a book on how to raise children when they turned 30. Now I realize that it would be arrogant for me to assume that I know anything even now. They are still in process. It is still by the grace of God.
There is hope. If your children seem to be totally resistant to what you believe, don’t give up. As a teacher I often see kids that at 13 seem to have no hope and at 20 have begun to see the light. Trust God. Live by His standards. Be consistent.
My prayers go with you.
homo unius libri
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