Author Liwen Ho

Raising Our Kids for Other People’s Benefit

One of the munchkins came home recently and told me their teacher joked that we (hubby and I) were having a hard time with them and offered to adopt them. My first reaction was,Β Ha, he doesn’t know what he’s asking for!; my second thought,Β After all the hard work we’ve done?! No way, buddy! πŸ˜‰

This joke got me thinking though about our jobΒ as parents. We have kids for ourselves, to fulfill a desire within us that imagines how nice it would be to have our own mini-me’s. However, when we raise our kids, it’s not only for our benefit. We raise our kids for other people, too.

What do I mean? All the teaching, guiding, correcting, and nurturing we do with our kids eventually benefits the people our kids come into contact with. This includes their friends and teachers and their future employers, potential spouses, evenΒ society as a whole. Whoa. That’sΒ a sobering thought. But isn’t thisΒ the goal of parenting? To love, influence, and blessΒ our children so they can in turn love, influence, and bless others.

Parenting is a huge responsibility and also one of the most thankless jobsΒ out there. Even thoughΒ we don’tΒ always directly reap the rewards of our labor, there are moments when we get aΒ virtual pat on the back for the job we’veΒ done. Like when a teacherΒ tells you what an inspiration your childΒ is to him. And he offers to adopt said child. I think that’s a good sign you’ve done something right as a parent. πŸ˜› And now that I’ve thought through this offer some more, I’ve changed my mind. I’m warming up toΒ the idea … especially with summer break around the corner. πŸ˜‰

Speaking of the break, I’ll be returning to aΒ summer schedule for posting to this blog (aka. whenever my kids allow me to!). I’ll leave you now with this fun video from the musical episode of The Flash (my favorite superhero!), featuring the song “Put A Little Love In Your Heart”, which is a good reminder for me as I think about all the time I’ll be spending at home with the munchkins. πŸ˜‰

In what ways are your children a blessing to others?

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Reina

Thanks for the humorous reminder to approach everything with love, especially when it comes to parenting! And thank you for raising children who put that caring into the world as well! Blessings for your summer. It’s a challenge! πŸ™‚

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