Krusty Sage
| January 25th, 2008I’m a dad now. And questions about sheltering and protecting and maturity are things with which we now struggle. Should Sophia play with Barbies (no)? Can she watch The Simpsons (no)? Should she be able to listen to Johnny Cash (depends)?
Anyway, the Krusty Sage, over at “Letters from Kamp Krusty” pretty much nailed it. Here’s a sample. Follow the link to read the post in its entirety.
It’s your job to shelter, pops. And if you think the mindless entertainment/consumption lifestyle is somehow “the real world”, the Krusty Sage is going to get out of his big, awesome, wooden chair and hit you with it.
Interested? Read it here.
Funny…watching The Simpsons right now…probably because I’m not a mom yet.
I have been to Krusty Kamp’s website and laughed my derrière off. The guy is hilarious and usually spot-on. I especially liked the one where he just wanted someone to argue with him and instead he just got a bunch of insults.
Leann » Don’t get me wrong, I love The Simpsons. It’s just that it is not appropriate for my daughter to watch. So, for the most part I don’t watch it. Although, I do plan on seeing the movie sometime.
man if this is happening to the bushmaster, what loves in my life will come to and end when fathering a child. bush, should i reconsider my desire to help populate the earth (and in the words of vodi baucham, help the chiristians out number the muslims)? i assume the simpsons are only the beginning.
cabot panther » Yeah, The Simpsons is just the beginning. The hardest part is the whole “It’s not about just us anymore.” But, believe me, the joy/fun/amazement far outweighs all that stuff we never really needed anyway.
It’s a tough balance – the balance between maintaining innocence while still allowing enough of the real world in that my kids don’t raise too much you-know-what when they turn 18. I agree with the Krusty Sage post on many points. It often frightens me how the lines become blurred in many of my students lives but I acknowledge that it is a thin line – one very important, very thin line. My mom did a great job here, so I guess I should have been taking notes. Oh, and a word of warning: my mom also swore I’d never play with Barbies… And I definitely had the most Barbies on the block by the time I was 7.
jill » You are right. Balance is the key. And, I really think, when it get down to it, parenting is a matter of walking in the Spirit. Hokey sounding or not . . . life as a disciple of Christ encompasses even whether or not to let our kids play with Barbies or whatever. And I think that there is a flip side to the sheltering aspect of parenting. Exposure. While it is our job to shelter from the inappropriate. . . it is at least as important to expose those little rugrats to the things that are going to help them grow into what God created them to be.
As a mother of two girls, a 7 year old and a 10 year old, I think the KS is right on target with this one. Homeschooling is a God directed choice and not everyone is called, me included…my kids would be trully messed up. I think the most important point he made is that there is a season for everything and parents should look at the age appropriateness of the “exposure” they give their children. My 10 year old is ready for more exposure than my 7 year old. The biggest mistake, in my very humble oppinion, I see people make is that the first child is “sheltered” and with each subsequent child they get more and more lenient. If the Simpsons were not appropriate for the first child, why are they appropriate for the second. I have definetly changed my parenting in some areas from one child to the next because my second child responds differently; however, on social issues, like exposure to certain tv, movies, books etc. don’t you think if it was inappropriate the first time, it should be the next time around as well? Do you think God buys it when people let their 5 year old watch PG13 movies and they say, well, my older child really wanted to see it. Thanks for the website link.
Michelle » No, I don’t think God buys it. I’m afraid for a lot of folks, it might just come down to laziness. It’s so much easier to let kids get and do what they want. Sheltering and protecting takes a lot of work! And, heck!, with all the stuff we’ve already got going on, who has the time or the energy for it? I think K.S. makes a good point in saying that “job” as parents to do so. That catapults it to top priority where giving time and energy to guarding our kids’ hearts and minds becomes non-negotiable. Thanks for the comment, Michelle. You brought up some really good points.
I guess I can’t really input here since we are childless at this point in our married life, but I do have 3 nieces who are all under 10 years old. One set of parents expose their child WAY TOO MUCH to worldy “ungodly” type things and it breaks my heart to see her innocence lost so early. Its like when you give an 8 year old a cell phone now what do they have to look forward to as a teen? Do you go ahead and buy them a car to? The other set of parents give too many choices. I mean seriously should they have the choice to attend a church function or not? Until they are 18 and old enough to really make that decision why give them the option? My parents never gave us that option and I really am grateful for it. Oh and I was never allowed to see the Simpsons and to this day I can’t recall ever watching it once. Raise a child in the way they should go and they will not stray from it…right? Remember that verse is what my parents still tell me.