Who is Parenting Your Children?

AAs a mother of four adult children, the grandmother of five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren, I am deeply saddened since watching this video[1] with a little boy who, when interviewed and asked what he wanted to be when he grew up answered, a murderer. It was clear that he was not joking and had given it much thought and would not be easily convinced otherwise. The News reporter asked him what influenced his decision. He said that his older brother’s games and movies had lots of killing and he loved to kill and will make it his mission in life. He said he would kill everybody who dares to cross him except his mother and father and brother of course but everyone else will die. Where did we fail this little boy?

• The Daycare Providers • The Babysitters • The neighbor(s) and or an older sibling.

Unfortunately, even in a sheltered and nurturing home environment, both our male and female children are being sexually abused. Some children never shared their abuse with their parent(s) for various reasons. Chances are, in some cases; the folks we deem capable of being a safety net and a shelter base to facilitate our absence, literally destroy the future of our precious and innocent children.

Please don’t think I am being naive in saying, some parents have to provide for their child or children (family) as the breadwinner(s) in most situations however, what I am saying is: There are not enough loving, caring, and compassionate home environments for our children in our world today, and; the buck should stop at you, you, and especially you.

I remember as a mother and a Clergy Officiate, that on Sundays, our Sunday School was like an unpaid Daycare Center for the day. Here, the child/children was provided one or two meals and some healthy snacks while the parent(s) attended Church. In some cases; the child/children was dropped off and You guessed it; the parent(s) took off, I mean, they left the Church Grounds.

This Is Not A Guilt Trip. Here’s another scenario, we have gone through different ages and stages of parenting: • The Latch Key parenting. • The Drop off systems. • The Play Dates Systems etc.

Whichever seemingly works best on an individual basis is what we sometimes inflict upon on our future Presidents, Prime Ministers, Judges, Doctors, Nurses, etc. Yes, these are some of the great men and women that God has blessed us with, stop and think about this if you have not received anything else from this article, please.

In many instances, the Clergy Officiates and Congregants stood as Godparents for the babies that were and still are born in each designated Ministry.

While this is a divine blessing, some of these selected Godparents have a family of their own and lovingly nurture and educate our children born in the Church willingly.

Being a Godparent should not be a ‘Life Sentence’ however, a God-given role to be administered in the life of the parents and the child/children and not a burden.

I truly ask that we reverse the role of children having children. As parents, we become accountable and responsible for the lives we usher into our church and communities today.

Let us think long term about the nurturing and mentoring process as parents. The things and investments we implement in the lives of our children today will produce lifelong results in the future of our men and women of tomorrow.

By Tiveen Perry Pastor, Certified Life Coach, Certified Breast Cancer Mentor.