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Intergenerational Bonding
movies that are as wholesome as possible. It
is just not normal for people's relationships to
move as fast in real life as they do on TV,
hopping in and out of bed as fast as fleas on a
dog.
We parents shouldn't cling to our teens
unnecessarily. Children who are desperate to
get away from their parents are sometimes the
ones whom the parents are frantically holding
on to. If we give children the freedom they long
for, they may want to keep coming back.
It's ideal when we have the best of both
worlds--an active, exciting life on our own and
the option of sharing our parent's life as well.
In everything, we try to guide our young people
to be responsible individuals.
We are
compelled to teach them that, as a child, no
one really
"gets by"
with anything here or in the
hereafter.
Rather, every person--dad, mom, brother,
and sister--is ultimately accountable to God
who sees all actions. The child who feels an
ultimate responsibility to God, in the context of
a parent's responsible authority, is the least
likely to rebel, or the most likely to recover from
a period of rebellion. Consider this cherished
note my daughter wrote me at about age 7:
"To
Daddy and Mommy--/ love you. You are nice
to
me.
I know you love God and Jesus
... "
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