Adam Sandler (while talking to his niece and nephew) said something like, "There are no happy endings in real life. The sooner you learn about that, the better."
Point taken, fact proven. Life is harsh.
And we try to protect our children from getting hurt -- physically, emotionally. Up to what point should we protect them?
I try to show my children painful reality. Children begging on the street, why there are vagrants, children abandoned in the orphanage. I tell them that times are hard now -- cut down on eating out, less buying of toys, settling for more affordable brands. Focusing on needs and lessening our wants. Being content with what we have. But I know that life, for them, is still comfortable.
Sometimes I feel that one will never know how difficult life is without experiencing it directly. How can you feel what a beggar feels unless you yourself have to beg? How can one feel what it feels like not to have anything to eat unless you really don't have anything to eat.
It is hard. But that's what reality is.
I wish not for my children to have to go through such. But I also hope that young as they are, they will be able to empathize with those who are not as blessed as they are. I don't want them to live a life forever wearing pink colored glasses.
6 comments:
That's really true.As a Mom too I wanted my son to live the reality of life.
The kids at my church go through something called the 40 hour fast and they really do go without food for that long.
I don't like it myself because I'd rather do something to raise money for the hungry people instead, but I'll bet it would really give you an appreciation for being truly hungry would be like.
In some ways I want my kids to learn the realities of life, but in other ways I want them to be kids as long as possible. It's a hard line to define.
That's so true. I worry when I hear my kids say...Mommy, it's broken. We have to buy a new one. Or when the house gets dirty and my 4 years old will say that it's time to buy a new house because this one is messy.
I have lived in a homeless shelter, but still know little what it is to be homeless. I have slept on the streets, but do not know what it is toi feel confined there.
I am physically disabled, and yet cannot imagine what it is to ligve a life this way.
When I visited the city of Cagayan de Oro, I sad skinny k9ids knock on my window, looking for money to buy food. I know there is always food availablke for the poor on the streets in my town (and none of them look hungry).
We live the lives we live, and we learn what we are willing to learn to get through it.
My path is not as fun as I want, and still am I truly left wanting? I hope you raise those kids to be aware and compassionate. I know my experiences do not qualify me to know what true suffering is. I hope I stay 'aware enough to be able to love as God wants me to love.
.....and I thank you sincerely for your blog
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