Good vs Bad

We want our children to know the good in the world. They are so innocent and nobody wants to be the one to ruin that, but teaching them what's bad in the world won't ruin their innocence!! Not by a long shot... it teaches them balance. 

The world is all about balance, without sadness we cant understand the greatness of joy and happiness! There is no lightness of day without the darkness of the night. Balance. 

I dont mean to scare our children by telling them how horrid the world can be at too young an age, but there is nothing wrong, and in my opinion there is so much more right, in teaching them what can happen when they make the wrong choice. At every age there are things children can make decisions about, and as they grow up those decisions become more important, & not always just to them, 

Now when I say our children learn to make choices at leavey age I dont just mean life altering choices. For instance at 2 they might choose what cereal they want for breakfast. At 5 they like to choose what book they want to read. At 8 they decide what clothes to wear, (and if we are raising them right they will dress properly).  But, of course, as they get older they make more important choices, like what kind of people they want as their friends (even at a young age they learn that, though it's more important as they grow older). As teenagers they make choices about what they truly want to do in their furture as a career, what colleges they want to apply to. They have to choose to make good choices in school so they can get accepted into the schools of their choice and get that career they really want. Life is all about choices. Good and bad. Balance. 

My kids know that I am a recovering drug addict. They know alot more about drugs and what they can do to a family than most kids their age. We felt that it was important that they know so they dont make the same choices, so they know what happens, what it can do a family and how hard it is to change your life once you go down that path. Finding that balance.

I will never regret teaching my kids about my past,  it made me who I am today, it's made my life and their lives what they are today. They know it's a struggle i will deal with for the rest of my life, but it's a struggle worth fighting because I have an amazing life to fight for!! 

That's just one example, but there are so many things that some parents shield their children from, but what you may not realize until it's too late is that once they are adults they will have to learn these things anyway. They will have to learn the hard way if we dont ease them into knowing the difference between good and bad. Not just the little things, of course we teach them certain things are bad, but obviously I mean the things we feel important for them to know that are bad out in the world, before they are out in the big bad world as adults. We don't want them clue less to what can happen and how to attempt to keep themselves safe from it all. 

I know I have focused alot on the bad, but that's not all this is about. We need to teach them the good, the amazing, the unexpected beauty the world holds.  We also need to teach them how to make sure they never lose sight of that beauty, that goodness in the world, even when they feel like life cant get any worse.  As long as there is still life in you there is still good to out weigh the bad. Balance. 

It's our responsibility to raise them to be who they're going to be. To make sure they know they can talk to us, be it good or bad, with no judgement from us. To raise them to be the smartest, bravest, most interesting, and honest person they can be. That is our job when we decide to be parents. Balance.

Dont take those years we have for granted, we only get the one chance. There's no handbook to say what is right or wrong when it comes to parenting and nobody can tell us what to do. We, as their parents,  know what is best for them, or at least we hope so!! Just remember there is nothing wrong with taking advice, as long as it feels right. Just remember you dont want them lost when they grow up and move out into this big crazy world. We need them ready, in every way!! We need them to know how to deal with the balance of the good and bad. To know that no matter how bad things may seem, if you dig deep enough you know with all of your heart that life is about the good,  we just have to over come the obstacles life throws at us sometimes. We have to find that BALANCE!! 

"Most things are good and they are the strongest things; but there are evil things too and you are not doing a child a favor by trying to shield them from reality. The important thing is to teach them that good can always triumph over evil."  -Walt Disney