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At what age will you allow your children to DECIDE…
- the condition of their bedroom?
- the clothes they wear?
- their hairstyle?
- what television shows they view?
- the music they listen to?
- the movies they see?
- the friends they choose?
- pack their clothes for a trip?
- how often they use their phone & texting?
- what they do on their computer, IPod & other electronics?
- when they do their homework?
- the classes they take at school?
- whether to attend church with you?
- how they spend their money?
- who they date & when?
- where to work?
- where they will live?
- what career they’ll choose?
In my last blog post, Dependence to Independence, the analogy of your children being 100% dependent on you at birth and becoming 100% independent from you as they launch into young adulthood, is the foundation to these questions. Is your nine-year-old making 50% of his/her daily decisions? Is your 12 1/2 year-old making 75% of his/her decisions?
Of course, this isn’t an exact formula, but the key question is, How are you intentionally allowing your child to make increasingly more choices? I realize this concept is frightening, but it is even more frightening to launch a young person into today’s secular world not possessing the life-skills, responsibility, and decision making abilities to make God honoring choices throughout adulthood. It’s your privilege & responsibility to decide how you will train up your sons and daughters in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6).
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Great article and good reminder of purposeful parenting.
Thx