April 29, 2005 11:14 AM
Their futures - what really matters most
A while back, I blogged about how the number of meaningless everyday choices we're called to make rob us of our most precious commodity -- time.
Okay, so I’m an older mother. Though I don’t mean to come across like a caricature, “Yesiree, back in my day we walked three miles to school with holes in our shoes,†– but surely even the youngest mothers have noticed the world our kids are growing up in is just not the same as it was even when they were kids – and it seems to be changing ever more rapidly.I guess it would be scary if our children didn’t seem so downright competent to handle it all. I remember the black and white TVs we’d circle round to watch Ed Sullivan and I Love Lucy. Each set had four knobs – the off/on/volume control, brightness, horizontal hold, and vertical hold (because for some reason, picture stability was very fragile and out of the blue, the picture on the screen would start flipping up or down or sideways – we’ve come a long way, baby!).
Pretty straightforward – and yet our parents never let us touch the knobs, so sure we’d break the TV. Now my fifth grader’s doing Power Point presentations and I’m trying to schedule an appointment for her to teach me. I don’t worry when a new techno-marvel makes its entrance into our house because any of my children can probably figure it out for me.
See what I mean? We have so much we have to be confident about the abilities of the next generation to cope with rapid change and technology.
Still, I worry. Do you?
Because it takes more than competence, intelligence, or education to produce the kind of man or woman I want each of my children to grow up to be.There’s a word that comes to mind here: mensch. It’s one of those Yiddish words – a Germanic language written in Hebrew and including many special Hebrew words, especially those that have to do with faith. It’s a challenge to translate, but because it means exactly what I’m talking about here, I’ll try.
The German language has the word mann for man. But mensch means so much more. One dictionary defines mensch as “a person having admirable characteristics, such as fortitude and firmness of purpose.†Mensch also signifies a perfect gentleman or a perfect lady, someone compassionate, caring, and kind.
So when I think about the kind of adults I want my children to grow up to be, I’m thinking menschen – men and women with good, strong, and gracious character. I want them to grow up to be faithful wives and husbands, loving parents, brave believers, good friends, and committed citizens.
The above is from my new book The Mommy Manual: Planting Roots that Give Your Child Wings. I thought of it today when Diane Harrison wrote me:
If you ask Liam what he wants to be when he grows up - he'll tell you - a father. I hope that tells us we are doing the right thing.
Diane, I couldn't agree more. And - just in case you're already looking - I've got some nice little girls who want to grow up to be mommies. . . . .
Posted in Mothering | Permalink
Comments
I never wanted to be a mommy when I grew up. In fact, that was probably last on my list. I'm deeply saddened that I missed that, but blessed that God allowed me the privilidge and the want later than most.
Great post!
Posted by: Sal | April 30, 2005 10:33 AM
