School is starting up.\u00a0 It\u2019s always an exciting time of year with new clothes, new schools and classes, and new friends.\u00a0 It\u2019s also a break for mom.\u00a0 Come on, admit it!\u00a0 You can actually have a couple of hours to do something you want to do, finally.\u00a0 But, then come the after school activities and the chauffeuring.\u00a0 Okay, maybe the break isn\u2019t really there, but new schedules are always exciting, at first.<\/p>\n
Along with school come issues to \u201cre-deal\u201d with:\u00a0 Modesty in attire.\u00a0 Discipline.\u00a0 Friends and culture.<\/p>\n
Modesty:\u00a0\u00a0 We will have this problem forever, I\u2019m afraid.\u00a0 But when you buy your children\u2019s clothes, or when they begin buying their own clothes, you have got to go by the rules.\u00a0 The school has its standards, but each home should have their own (which I hope are a little tighter, and definitely enforced).\u00a0 When it comes to school dances\u2014please talk to your girls and make sure you are on the same page.\u00a0 Don\u2019t wait until weeks before the dance to start demanding something modest, or worst yet, let your daughter go off with her friends to buy the dress.\u00a0 This is a mother-daughter opportunity.\u00a0 Take it.\u00a0 Help your daughter be fearless in her high, moral standards.<\/p>\n
Discipline:\u00a0 Higher education gets more and more competitive every year.\u00a0 Distractions get more and more attractive and pervasive every year.\u00a0 More and more mothers are going to work and not being there when the children return home.\u00a0 \u2018Nuf said.<\/p>\n
Friends and culture:\u00a0 When young groups get together, without adult supervision, you can pretty much expect the kids to act out.\u00a0 There is too much of the show-off, one-upmanship, and pressure that builds, and it will affect your child.\u00a0 Just pay attention.\u00a0 Don\u2019t worry about being the \u201cun-cool\u201d parent.\u00a0 Parents are supposed to be un-cool, at least sometimes. \u00a0Be proud of it and stand your ground.\u00a0 Your children will thank you some day.<\/p>\n
Continuing along these lines, I would like to mention swearing.\u00a0 This is one of those areas that are really insidious.\u00a0 Are we, as parents, aware of how much swearing confronts our children at school (Elementary, and on up)?\u00a0 The halls are rife with profane yelling; sometimes said in anger, but mostly stated casually, but loudly, in conversation.\u00a0 And the teachers.\u00a0 I will never appreciate, or respect, a teacher who can\u2019t control their tongue in a classroom setting.\u00a0 I don\u2019t care how bad the kids are.<\/p>\n
In Utah, swearing is very, very prevalent amongst LDS kids.\u00a0 In other parts of the world, I\u2019m sure the kids realize their position and are a little more watchful.\u00a0 Being LDS, all of us know better.\u00a0 Mormons try to skirt around by making up \u201cnon-swear\u201d words.\u00a0 That\u2019s were \u201cflip\u201d, \u201cgosh darn\u201d, and the like come from.\u00a0 Nowadays, I most often hear kids say \u201cGa\u2026\u201d; sounding, but not actually saying, the Name.\u00a0 Talk to your kids about the example they need to set, at all times, even if they are the only ones.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard, but it\u2019s important.<\/p>\n
I ran into an article from 1881, of course, talking about swearing.\u00a0 This comment really struck me.\u00a0 \u201cTruth, uttered by the most ignorant, never requires any such prop.\u00a0 It is perfectly capable of standing alone, and the more simply it is expressed, the stronger it appears.\u201d\u00a0 When kids get together, without parents around, the \u201ccoolness\u201d takes over completely.\u00a0 Truth is not cool, but it is respected. \u00a0The quote continues, \u201cThe habitual use of oaths, therefore, may be said to destroy the credibility of statements made by those addicted to the habit.\u00a0 Such are consequently no longer respected by others, and if they will reflect a little, we believe they will acknowledge their self respect is greatly lessened, as well.\u201d\u00a0 Our kids are too close to the situation to see how true this statement is. \u00a0We, as parents need to talk with our children, and instill in them the power to use their words wisely.\u00a0 They need to know that their classmates will not be impressed with them if they dress immodestly, show a lack of discipline, choose the wrong friends, adopt a sinking immoral culture, or swear.\u00a0 And their view of themselves will fall flat.<\/p>\n
When you send your children off to school with a Father\u2019s Blessing (given by a father, grandfather, home teacher, or Bishop), you give them power to succeed the Lord\u2019s way.\u00a0 Every child needs confidence.\u00a0 A blessing will tell the child that the Spirit is willing to be with them, that their family loves them, that the gospel is true, and worth living at every age, and that God loves them and is watching over them.\u00a0 They are never alone in the daily battle they face.<\/p>\n
If they hold to high standards they will have nothing to ever be ashamed of.\u00a0 It is better to glorify God in purity of speech, dress, and attitude.\u00a0 Their base classmates will eventually learn this lesson.\u00a0 Perhaps it will be your child who saves these classmates from a long, painful road back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
School is starting up.\u00a0 It\u2019s always an exciting time of year with new clothes, new schools and classes, and new friends.\u00a0 It\u2019s also a break for mom.\u00a0 Come on, admit it!\u00a0 You can actually have a couple of hours to do something you want to do, finally.\u00a0 But, then come the after school activities and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[477,9,19],"tags":[388,391,24,392,390],"class_list":["post-2169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-2","category-motherhood","category-relief-societyyoung-women","tag-attitude","tag-discipline","tag-modesty","tag-peer-pressure","tag-swearing"],"yoast_head":"\n