Here is an excerpt that rang within my own spirit:
Typically, when we belittle others who don't measure up to our standards, we will also imagine others are judging us. Consequently, we will find ourselves frequently being defensive. We assume that others will think lowly of us for some perceived inadequacy, so we offer unsolicited explanations and clarifications for us or our children. For example, let's say we walked past a TV at Sears and saw something of interest - when we tell others what we saw, we are careful to clarify that we saw it at Sears and weren't watching a TV at home. If we live under fear of judgment, not only will we tend to be on the defensive, but whenever we are in a public setting where our children might be "watched," we will put pressure on them.
Please read the whole thing, it's good!
very good read.
ReplyDeleteand some very thought provoking comments (also some very ridiculous comments . . . )
i'll be pondering some of this and sharing with ben - for our own parenting and shedding light on some bits of our upbringing . . .
happy homeschooling! we're doing our best over here. :)
This is a great article. Definitely worth giving a lot of thought.
ReplyDeleteThis link is to a blog we read, and it's along the same lines of thought. Dan and I have enjoyed a lot of what it has to say. We first saw him at the MACHE conference this past spring.
http://www.gospelparenting.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=5&Itemid=9