Protecting Our Children, Is Preparing Our Children (written by owner of Warrior Goddess - Monday,Oct.10,2016)

   Quite a few years ago when my daughter was around age 5, I took her to a friend’s birthday party that was held at a private beach area. To cut right to the chase, all the kids were splashing and playing in the water, when I notice a 13 year old boy sitting on the bank by himself watching the kids play. He looked really sad, so I wandered over to the mother and I politely asked if her son was alright and if he wanted to swim we brought extra towels. She smiled, laughed, and said, “Oh he’s fine, he’s been scared to death of water since he was a baby.”

   This was an innocent enough response, but for some reason it weighed on my mind. So I tried to figure out exactly what bothered me about her response. So long story short, I figured out that it really bothered me that she simply “accepted” her child’s fear rather than finding a way to understand his fear and helping him find the path to conquer it. I mean, isn’t that what parents are supposed to do?

     Parents are supposed to give their children the skills and tools to survive in this world. I say “survive” because while we all want our children to live happy, fairytale lives, away from crime and bad people like in “leave it to beaver”, well, we ALL know that world doesn’t exist. I began wondering why anyone would want their child to fear anything in life, let alone something as simple as water.

Yes I want my daughter to have a career doing something she loves, meet a great guy that treats her like a queen, experience the world, go on trips, enjoy and love life for the gift it truly is. But at some point within that happy life, our kids are bound to run into a few bad apples of the world, or some form of negative aspect.

Now, knowing this, as a parent of a child that is scared to death of water, do I simply chose to “hope” that my son will never be on a boat, a dock, a lake or ocean or even on a shore in his life? Do I simply hope that he’s never in a situation where knowing how to swim meant life or death? Do I simply hope that if that occasion does arise, and he finds himself falling into the water and he’s forced to fight this terror all by himself, that someone will be close enough to save him? Because God knows that we cannot be with them 24/7 for the rest of his life, would I have wished that I would have taught him to swim?

Well I choose option D. None of the Above.

MY choice is to teach my child to swim. There are 100’s of things out here that can kill them, why would you not give them the skills needed to LIVE! If he’s afraid of water, teach him to swim, if she’s shy, teach her to be social, if she’s timid, teach her to stand up for herself, for God’s sake people, we are supposed to be raising human beings. Most parents have been through a few things in their lifetime, and if not, they’ve known someone who has. Parents need to use their knowledge of those experiences and the knowledge of the bad things in this world, use these and teach your kids either what not to do, or what to do, what to avoid, whatever it is, just TEACH them.

     If you are an unhealthy person that always wished you were healthy, then teach your child to be healthy. If you were a victim of domestic violence, teach your daughter to defend herself and teach her how important it is to be a strong, independent, woman. If you were always shy and timid and regret all the things, you missed out in as a kid, then teach your child to be social and give them the will to explore. If you are not able to teach them, then sign them up for a class, a group, a play date, whatever they need to learn those valuable lessons. As adults we know what’s out there, we need to prepare them accordingly.

       You are not a good parent because you take your child to their annual dentist checkup, or because you buy them clothes and food, or because you throw them a birthday party every year, or any of the other million routines, agenda, and schedules that parents are responsible for.

No People! Some parents forget that they are actually “raising” human beings. You are molding a person to live and live well in this crazy world out here. You are a good parent because you teach them how to be a human being, how to live, love, enjoy, fight, protect, laugh, and anything else they’ll need to LIVE.

This being said, we all have either seen cases on the news or internet, had a friend or relative, or even experienced it first hand, it is inevitable that at some point in our child’s lives they are going to be near, be involved, and/or experience some form of violence. Whether it be verbal, physical, cyber, or whatever new form of bullying or violence they conjure up in the future.

       We need to provide them the tools to be capable of handling these situations. Not only handling the situations, but also surviving them. And one step further, avoiding or preventing them. Whether its learning how to walk, how to swim, learning how to read and write, learning how to stand up to a bully, or fight off an attacker, it doesn't matter how big or small it is, our children deserve to know it all! Don't send them off into the world without preparing them for it first.