{"id":748,"date":"2012-08-28T06:19:39","date_gmt":"2012-08-28T10:19:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=748"},"modified":"2012-08-28T06:19:39","modified_gmt":"2012-08-28T10:19:39","slug":"teach-your-children-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=748","title":{"rendered":"teach your children well"},"content":{"rendered":"

As has become our annual ritual, yesterday once more was the first day of school… the day I bundle up my boys and watch them march off on that big yellow bus.\u00a0 Actually, my youngest guy\u2019s bus truly isn\u2019t all that big \u2014 but he feels<\/em><\/strong> like it\u2019s huge; sometimes feelings make all the difference in the world.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I was thinking about sending them off, what they will learn this year, how they will grow.\u00a0 I was thinking of the friends they would make that would last throughout the years, just like those dear to me who have been close for seemingly forever.\u00a0 I was thinking of who would teach them…\u00a0 and then I realized… we<\/em><\/strong> are their primary teachers…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While teachers make a vital contribution to the maturing of our children, it is we<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 their families \u2014 who are responsible for growing up our kids…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is we…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

… who must teach them that Facebook rants and Twitter tweets will never usurp the goodness and benefit of authentic conversation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is we…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

… who must teach them that authentic conversation is a privilege and opportunity for wisdom and growth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is we…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

… who must teach them that intentional attempts to divide us \u2014 based on income, race, demographics, and even NFL sports teams \u2014 are grounded in foolishness and self-focus.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is we…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

… who must teach that self-focus is foolish.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is we…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

… who must teach that pride and humility do not have to cancel out one another; we can be proud of our accomplishments without falling prey to thinking we are bigger or greater than we truly are.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is we…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

… who must teach our children that no political party is ordained by God.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is we…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

… who must teach our children about God.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is we…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

… who must teach our children to be responsible with their gifts, abilities, and finances.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is we…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

… who must teach our children to be generous with their gifts, finances, and commitment to service.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is we…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

… who must teach our children how to talk \u2014 how to build others up instead of allowing cursing and praise to attempt to come out of the same mouth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is we…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

… who must model what a loving, self-sacrificing family looks like.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is we…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

… who must practice what we preach \u2014 perhaps the greatest teacher \u2014 in responsibility, accountability, and loving our neighbor as ourselves.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is we.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No education \u2014 regardless of school format \u2014 public school, parochial school, homeschool, or some kind of vouchers \u2014 is more important than \u201cwe.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We… must teach them well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Respectfully,<\/p>\n

AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As has become our annual ritual, yesterday once more was the first day of school… the day I bundle up my boys and watch them march off on that big yellow bus.\u00a0 Actually, my youngest guy\u2019s bus truly isn\u2019t all that big \u2014 but he feels like it\u2019s huge; sometimes feelings make all the difference … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “teach your children well”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[104,106,105],"class_list":["post-748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-life","tag-education","tag-parental-responsibility","tag-teach-your-children"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=748"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":751,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748\/revisions\/751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}