80 now, I tell the grandkids how my brother and I, in 2nd through 5th grades (early 1950’s), walked the paved country road one mile each way to elementary school every day--including rain, snow, etc., etc.! Mom and Dad had left for work, and there was no car ride or excuse for getting to school late. The school bus passed us every morning, but we had to live two miles or greater from the school for a provided bus stop. Mom taught me, the older brother to cook, so by the time I was 12, I was responsible for cooking the evening meal, so ready when Mom and Dad home from work. And Dad’s blackboard list of ‘Saturday Jobs’ grew day-by-day during the week. In hindsight, my childhood was great preparation for the rest of ‘life’!
This post has reminded me that once Jonathan Haidt’s “The Anxious Generation” hits its publication date, it should move to right near the top of my reading list.
Thanks, Chris. My wife and I made sure that we did not follow the crowd putting their children in cages to protect them from life. We allowed our kids freedom to choose and to do--but we were always there to help them. Another important point in all this is communication in the family. We ate dinner together every day and talked while we ate, whether it was about the news of the day, their activities, something happening at church, or me giving them a quiz about something to help develop their thinking processes (they hated when I gave them a word and asked them to puzzle out what it meant by its Greek or Latin roots!). They are now all successful and challenging the world, not afraid of it.
80 now, I tell the grandkids how my brother and I, in 2nd through 5th grades (early 1950’s), walked the paved country road one mile each way to elementary school every day--including rain, snow, etc., etc.! Mom and Dad had left for work, and there was no car ride or excuse for getting to school late. The school bus passed us every morning, but we had to live two miles or greater from the school for a provided bus stop. Mom taught me, the older brother to cook, so by the time I was 12, I was responsible for cooking the evening meal, so ready when Mom and Dad home from work. And Dad’s blackboard list of ‘Saturday Jobs’ grew day-by-day during the week. In hindsight, my childhood was great preparation for the rest of ‘life’!
This post has reminded me that once Jonathan Haidt’s “The Anxious Generation” hits its publication date, it should move to right near the top of my reading list.
I think it was Jordan Peterson I heard say basically this: You can keep your children “safe”, or you can give them courage, but you can’t do both.
Have you read Free Range Parenting? It fleshes out a lot of this and gave me a lot to think about as I anticipate my kids growing up in this world.
Thanks, Chris. My wife and I made sure that we did not follow the crowd putting their children in cages to protect them from life. We allowed our kids freedom to choose and to do--but we were always there to help them. Another important point in all this is communication in the family. We ate dinner together every day and talked while we ate, whether it was about the news of the day, their activities, something happening at church, or me giving them a quiz about something to help develop their thinking processes (they hated when I gave them a word and asked them to puzzle out what it meant by its Greek or Latin roots!). They are now all successful and challenging the world, not afraid of it.