How often do I hear comedies based on the banalities of child rearing? Just today I read an article where a mother was trying to justify doing something she liked by saying she did it, “as a reminder that we're more than the Legos we pick up and the butts we wipe.”
I understand where she’s coming from. Society often allows us, or even tries to force us, to devalue staying at home to raise our children. It is a valid point if we ignore children while we are at home, but even minimal care of a child is the most important work any human being will ever do in the whole course of their lifetime.
If I said that you created those children in your own image and it was now your job to nurture a whole new generation of people who would become the doctors, lawyers, scientists, farmers, poets, teachers, builders and parents in this world, would it feel more important to you?
That is what a stay at home parent is doing. It is what any parent is doing to some extent, but like anything we do some do it better than others.
Don’t underestimate the value of teaching a child to pick up his Legos, or teaching him cooperation by helping him do it, or teaching him consequences if he refuses to do it. That little piece of plastic can do so much more than make tiny houses. It is only one of many valuable learning tools.
The same thing is true about wiping his butt. Cleanliness keeps us healthy and being cared for makes us feel worthy of attention.
If every child grew up feeling loved, wanted, and had someone to patiently lead him or her towards self-fulfillment, what a wonderful world this would be.
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