Last night was our last book club meeting of our series. We discussed: The Blessing of a Skinned Knee, by Wendy Mogel.
Courtney Evenchik and I ran the group. We both love this book and felt that is chock full of wisdom. The participants felt the same way.
The first topic on our agenda was teaching kids responsibility. We discussed the importance of chores and some simple ways that we can encourage our kids to do their jobs.
The reflection assignment outlined in the book group guide, gave us food for thought. This is just one example of the many questions Mogel suggest that we ask ourselves about our attitudes and our parenting goals:
“When you were growing up, did you have as much stuff, clothes, books, vehicles, athletic equipment, and toys as your children do? Was the stuff in as many places in the house? Did your family try to repair things before replacing them? If yes, what lessons did this teach you? What chores did you do? How did you help your parents in other ways? What did you learn from having these responsibilities? What did you sacrifice?”
We also talked about the trend of trophy and helicopter parenting and how to promote resilience and independence in our children. One participants acknowledged that some of the suggestions in the book go against the parenting credo espoused by her community and her friends.It seemed ironic, but we all agreed that it does take courage to buck the trend, do less for your children and stop trying to make life smooth for your kids.
We ended the evening discussing what Mogel, calls “good enough” parenting. Courtney explained that if we just aim for “good enough” when we raise our kids, we take the pressure off of ourselves. Modern parents can become consumed with being the “perfect” parent. If we let go of that unattainable goal of perfection, we can instantly become more relaxed with our kids and with our spouses. Everyone breathes a bit easier and our home lives will be calmer and more joyful.
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