Ponderings

A couple things have crossed my mind lately about parenting.

Number one, where is the line that separates teaching your child your beliefs versus brainwashing them? This is a tough question. I don't want to raise my son to be close minded at all, but I have a responsibility to teach him my beliefs. Especially since my wife and I believe that faith will lead him to salvation. Of course there can be nothing more important than that for a Christian parent.
But too many people rely on what their parents believed and how they were raised. I suppose the medium here lies in teaching them what you believe and know and then teaching them to teach themselves. Thankfully I've got a while before this becomes a tangiable issue in our home. Lord willing much wisdom will come to us as parents before we have to tackle this one.

Number two has to do with spoiling our son. I think people have a quick trigger with that word. We've heard already that our son is spoiled. I think mostly that's said in jest, but as a new parent you get a bit gunshy around that term. No one wants a spoiled baby. Because spoiled babies become spoiled toddlers, spoiled toddlers make spoiled kids, and spoiled kids make for big headaches.
But here's the question. Is there a difference between spoiling and loving? I think there is. Now obviously there is more than one type of spoiling. I'm not referring to lavishing your kids with gifts and unmerited priveleges around every corner. Nor am I referring to refusing to discipline your child to the point that he/she literally runs the home.
I mean the spoiling that comes when your child can only be soothed by you. When they only want to be held by you and they throw fits (fits, not fussing) when they don't get their way. To an extent, every child does that. So where does that line exist? Does that line exist at all? We love our son, and we're going to cuddle with him, kiss him, play with him, and soothe him when he's upset. So how is that spoiling? Are we somehow ruining him for life because he knows his parents love him and are there for him? I see a big difference between loving and spoiling. I wish more people saw it that way and we wouldn't be so quick to label other kids as spoiled.

Just a couple random thoughts from me.