Mom's Moment #3- Natural Consequences

It's always been said that "One of the greatest teachers in life is LIFE ITSELF." In life and in parenting i have found this to be true. Life experience and experiencing life is such a wonderful teaching tool for us as parents and for children.
I have always wanted my kids to stay little as long as possible. We have really tried to maximize the time we have together with the kids and as a family unit. We have seen and experienced that natural consequences are one of the best teachers, whether they are experiencing consequences that are pleasant or one's that are not so pleasant, none-the-less they are better remembered. When teaching about hot water or the hot stove we actually let our children experiment with 'hot'. We did not burn them or just watch them burn themselves. We would say this or that was hot and allow them to get close enough to feel the warmth until they realized it was something that could hurt them. We have tried to teach responsibility for things like playing with fire and fireworks, sports and academics, doing this from a very young age. Most of us desire to keep the ones we love from pain, discouragement, loss or disappointment. However, we have found that trying to control so many things and the outcome shelters them from life and real life life experiences. That' s not always easy when you don't want them to untie the strings that connect your heart to theirs as is does when our children are so small and impressionable. However, allowing them to experience some pain, discomfort, loss of pets or people and the joy of success and the agony of defeat are wonderful teachers. Trying to protect them and not communicating together through these issues hinders the maturity and the lessons life is supposed to teach. Often times the experience itself is the disciple for difficult things and in many cases we don't need to exasperate the issue by implementing our own standard of disciple or punishment on top of the life lesson. At times our silences is what is most necessary. My husband is great at this. I always want to make sure they have learned the lesson, often with too much explanation. Yet i see the wisdom in keeping silent.
I pray for you as you continue on your parenting journey. A journey that is never done. A journey that is so worth every inch of effort or inconvenience it affords. Keep persevering and doing the best you can, God smiles at all your efforts to raise your children in a pleasing way.

Happy Parenting!