Sometimes the hardest thing about parenting is allowing our children to grow up.

OK, I had so many good laughs with the last picture (baby duck taped to the wall) that I decided to include this one too (picture of two boys in a pet travel cage). Underneath it says, “Parenting- Who says it has to be difficult?” We parents have all felt like doing this from time to time, haven’t we? As my dad got home from work one evening, my mother met him with, “Just give me the car. I need to get away from the kids for a little.” We were all dumbfounded why she was upset with us!
The picture shows another problem of parenting as well. Some parents agreed such a tactic isn’t so bad for this would keep the children from harm. They so love them that they want to protect them from making any bad choices. Thus, they make all their decisions for them. Sadly, in the long run, this isn’t loving at all. Children need to be free to make decisions and they need to learn how to make them wisely. An excellent kindergarten teacher I met a few years ago had this policy: teach the children how to make decisions by giving them a choice of several (all safe ones) and letting them live with their choice. As children grow, they should be given more freedom to choose, based on their maturity, and the wisdom they have shown in past decisions. This was one of my hardest battles as a parent. On the one hand I wanted my children to become independent, but on the other hand, I didn’t want them to suffer the consequences of foolishness.
When Athaliah usurped the throne of Israel, Jehoiada’s wife hid young Joash for six years. When he became king at age 8, he was too young to rule so Jehoiada did it for him. But, it seems Jehoiada never taught Joash how, for, after his stepfather died, Joash caved in to peer pressure and turned from the Lord.
The hardest part of this is to free our children when we know they will make wrong decisions. Yet God didn’t even restrain Adam and Eve from ruining the world by sin. Another lesson here: when they make foolish choices, let them live with the consequences without bailing them out! These can be some of their most effective teachers. “I’m sorry, but you won’t be able to go with us because you chose to spend your money on candy.”
The key, of course, is doing all we can to mold them into Christlikeness early! Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. But, like our heavenly Father, we must increasingly free them to make their own choices, even bad ones. God never intended our children to be our puppets, or to fulfill our own dreams. They are individuals who will account to God for their own lives. And often, the more we give them appropriate freedom without putting them in danger, the stronger will be our bond with them.