I'll never forget the sinking feeling I had laying in bed one night as our oldest son approached his ninth birthday. The way I saw it, we were halfway through our parenting (while he's still home) and there was so much more for him to learn! I looked ahead and saw all of the responsibility and convictions I wanted to pass on to my son and had no idea how to proceed. I spent some time tossing and turning with much restless thinking and worrying that continued on for several nights. I'm thankful that God gently reminded me He also knew what Micah still needed, and would guide our steps so long as we looked to Him.
Those thoughts and feelings have intensified over the past year as we have prayerfully decided to enroll Micah in public school next fall, and see Jr. High looming in the very near future. How are we going to arm him with all he needs to know to navigate through successfully? It can be an overwhelming burden to consider, but thankfully there is help from above and from those who have gone before us! Here are some great books I've been reading that have given help and ideas!
Money Management: Debt Proofing Your Children by Mary Hunt
As we look at the current state of our economy, it becomes pretty clear that financial responsibility is something every parent in this country should be talking over with their kids! I shared before that Ron Blue's book Your Kids Can Master Their Money is a good start to ideas to pass on money management to children in creative and fun ways. This winter I followed that up by reading Debt Proofing Your Children by Mary Hunt. When Mary and her husband found themselves swamped with thousands of dollars in credit debt, she heard the wake up call and seriously considered how to teach her boys to avoid her mistakes. Her ingenious idea is laid out in this book: by sixth grade both of her boys began recieving a monthly salary to cover agreed-upon expenses that increased as the boys matured. By the time they graduated from high school, both of her children were completely responsible for all of their own finances, had jobs, and quite a bit of savings to get started in the real world. One piece of advice that sticks with me: Don't tell your kids you're not buying something because you can't afford it, but instead say you are simply not choosing to spend your money in that way. We don't have control over everything we can afford, but we can control the choices we make with the resources God has given us!
Parenting Today's Adolescent by Dennis and Barbara Rainey
I thought I'd just read a book about adolescence to see what's coming and am so glad I did. Though this book is written for parents of teens, there is plenty of information to be gleaned for mid to late elementary parents as well! Dennis and Barbara share their knowledge gained from parenting six children and teaching sixth grade Sunday School. Their advice to me: get an early start in talking with your children about your convictions! And if you don't yet know what your convictions are, now is the time to get that settled. They highlight fourteen areas where teens struggle, what their Biblical convictions were as parents, and the convictions they sought to pass on to their children. I look forward to re-reading this book with Eric this summer so we can be on the same page about where we want our family to go from here in things like dating, busyness, attitudes, peer pressure, and other traps our children will face as teens. We've already begun to see some lively conversations develop at the dinner table as we bring up more topics the kids are already facing and seek to come to a Biblical perspective.
While these resources have been helpful, it is our reliance on the Lord's hand in the lives of our children that we trust the most. We know there will be many mistakes ahead of us and pray God's grace will see our children through.
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