If my eleven-year-old is to believed, my rules are just too strict. My kids can’t watch Star Wars until they’re ten, and they can’t watch Indiana Jones until they’re twelve, even though Lego makes toys from these shows, and that proves they’re good for kids, right? In addition, we’re LDS, and we believe in keeping the Sabbath day holy. With five and half inches of new snow on the ground on Sunday, it’s tempting to go out and sled or build a snowman, but my son has to wait until Monday. None of his friends have to wait. Why, if we look out the window right now, we’ll see everyone he knows out there, having a wonderful time, and their parents don’t even care!
Every parent who has ever lived has heard these same arguments from their children. Billy down the street has a dangerous toy, and he’s never shot his eye out, and if I can’t have one, life’s not fair.
And as every parent who has ever lived knows … life isn’t fair. It’s true about sledding on Sunday, it’s true about watching movies, it’s true about every aspect of our existence. But moms and dads have the duty of making sure that their children have what they need so they can grow up to be responsible, happy adults, and if that means subjecting their children to years of “unfair,” well, so be it.
This holds true in schooling, as with everything else. Our children might complain and bellyache about doing their bookwork. They might not want to do their reading. They might fake a fainting spell when it’s time to do math. And of course, they think it’s unfair and they think we’re the meanest parents ever. Who knows … maybe we are the meanest parents ever. Maybe a desire for our children to know how to add and subtract is just cruel. But they can’t see the big picture right now. They don’t understand that an education is important—whether it be home school or public school—and so there will be complaints.
Put your foot down. Explain to them firmly, but calmly, that all the studying they do now will come back to bless their lives. Be consistent in all their rules as well, not making school the one exception, but insist on chores and other duties as well. They will hate it. They will moan and groan. I think that’s what kids do. But they will appreciate your consistency, and they will thank you for ignoring their tantrums and determining to stay the course.
Related Blogs:
Disciplining Your Child: Some Ways Work Better Than Others