Planning ahead...

Parents tend to laugh at non-parents whenever they say anything starting with "My kids are never going to ____" or "I'm never going to let my kids ____." I get why. You will never understand something until you have experienced it. It's kind of like a skinny person telling a fat person that she needs to learn to love herself. Yeah, it's easy for you to say, hunny. You've never been larger than a size 2 and I'm sure you've never suffered for it.

I'm not a parent, but I plan to be one someday--operative word being PLAN. Yes, I know that everything will not happen exactly how I want it to. My kids won't behave exactly how I hope they will, but that doesn't mean that I can't plan to do things a certain way.

I do my research. I observe the kids around me and close to me. I read. I ask questions. I see what seems to work and what doesn't work at all. I want to be well-prepared. There are things that I hope my kids will never do and there are things that I will be doing my best not to let my kids do. I won't say the word "never" though, because I just don't know.

A few things I hope to do for my kids:

• Absolutely minimize the amount of TV and computer they are exposed to. I'm even considering only having a TV in my room so that they will not be allowed to use it for more than a couple hours at most. We'll see how my husband feels about that one. lol
• Give them responsibilities from a young age... I'm talking like 3 years old. I don't believe that any child is above maturation and responsibility.
• Teach them from home. Not only do I want them to be educated in the traditional sense, but I want God to be an important part of every lesson. Wait, I guess that IS in the traditional sense, since God was a part of our education way back when... =/
• Not fill up my house and their rooms with toys. I will even ask that any birthday or Christmas presents not be toys... or at least not always be toys. They take up valuable space and never get used. I want my kids to learn to be creative and to go outside and run around. I want them to appreciate everything.
• Limit the snacks and junk, if not remove them altogether. I look at my niece, who is 2 years old. She absolutely refuses to eat anything that is not in the shape of Dora the Explorer or a gold fish. No no.

There are other things, but these are the ones that come to mind. If it was up to me, I would take my kids back to the old school when kids didn't have cell phones, TVs, and the like. Back when kids had chores and work to do from an early age. Back when families knew each other and spent time together, contributing to their household together, and being proud of what they've built together.