We take Civics in High School, we teach our children about the “Inalienable rights” of everyone, but we do not teach them about the New 2012 Declaration of Independence. Please make a note: Life, Liberty, the Pursuit of Happiness and the Watching Over of Other People’s Children in Public Places.
Gertrude Stein wrote, “In the United States there is more space where nobody is than where anybody is. This is what makes America what it is.” So how come, in this space where nobody is, we have been found out that everybody is here with children whose space is unlimited in scope and a place where manners defy decent behavior.
We want to get out of the house, as the children are driving us crazy; however, we take them with us. We cannot stand the mess that is always created, so we get away for a moment, but alas, we take the children. We ask our children to put their things away, so in order to avoid an argument, we get away, and, yes, we take the children. What forethought is there in the planning of activities during the day with our children?
As parents, did we not realize that our time is not our own anymore. We were fulfilling our inner desires to procreate and to carry the name and to extend our love to a living, breathing soul, who we could nurture, love and eventually watch fly away. Did they fly away too soon and run around the neighborhood restaurant with no supervision?
Almost 70 years ago, James Conant wrote, “Our purpose is to cultivate in the largest possible number of our future citizens an appreciation of both the responsibilities and the benefits which come to them because they are Americans and free.” We have taken our freedom to mean that we alone are free. Oh, is there someone else here also?
Let’s take today’s work force. Both the husband and wife work to make ends meet and in the process we neglect our first real passion, the making of a child. Can you think back when you first heard the news that you were going to be a parent? Were you elated or frightened? Were you really aware of your responsibilities as a parent and did you discuss this responsibility with your spouse? What decisions did you make for the life of the child as long as he or she was in your immediate care? Was cost or time even considered when you first saw your child coming out of the womb and you both said that it was a family resemblance on the husband’s side, to which the wife quickly replied, no dear, it is on my side? When did the RESPONSIBILITY word become a four letter word – a word that we do not want to discuss?
We are so tired during the day, the cooking, the cleaning, the working, the mowing of the grass, the picking up after everyone, the car pools, the commute to work each day, the listening of the whining and unhappiness at work discussing the same problems that you have. We just want to get out of DODGE and remove ourselves. So, what do we do. We ignore our children in manners, dress, conduct, humanity, caring, love, sharing, doing for others, and personal responsibilities, not just in the family, but to all persons who just happen to be long lost brothers and sisters. We just cannot take another argument, we cannot take another disagreement, we are tired of excuses why something wasn’t done, we are tired of monotony with the same thing every day – we scream out IS THERE NO END?!
The children suffer from lack of nurturing, lack of quality time, and sometimes lack of love and an attentive ear just for that one child, one on one. What can be done about this?
Isaiah 49:15…Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb?….Apparently so, tragically, in today’s society.
Is it really an awful thing to correct a child in the way that he or she should be brought up? Is it really an awful thing to neglect a child’s dinner? Is it really an awful thing to find the time to help your child with homework? Is it really an awful thing to teach about inside and outside voices? Is it really an awful thing to hug your child, even though you have just corrected him or her? Is it really an awful thing at the end of the evening, when you can hardly walk into the house after a long day’s work or after you have just gone through two soccer games, dinner for 15 kids, dropping them all off all over town, to stop in his or her room, hold your child and tell of your love, as you gently caress the face of your mirror image – the image of someone that you have molded into the person that is a giant among men, a servant to all with love in the heart for all mankind?
Your new BILL OF RIGHTS should read: A Committed Life, Respect for the Liberty of Others, Loving My Neighbor as Myself to Attain Pure Happiness and Caring for and Loving the Children of Others.
Psalm 90:12…So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart; and, Psalm 90:16-17…Let your work be manifest to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our G__ be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands – O prosper the work of our hands!
Now, that really is a discussion for another day.
Blessings.