The next stage in my child rearing adventure was to keep them safe from whacky strangers and other dangerous people who lurk in the world seeking to destroy childhood. I’d not done such a good job at protecting them from physical injuries so I don’t know what made me think I’d fare better in this area, but I was all for safe parenting.
A new born baby smells pure doesn’t it? That unadulterated, concentration of creation by God. We try to hang on to that pure smell, it has been bottled as Baby Lotion and Baby Powder, but those smells really don’t come close to the real thing.
Every now and again the baby breaks out of the pure smell mode and we wonder how on earth mother’s milk, when passed through, can emit such an odour! Sorry, it’s not the mother’s milk, that was not too bad, it was the funky colour and consistency. I commented to my husband the first time I opened a diaper and nearly flipped, that perhaps the baby book should come with colour photos so that we could be prepared. In fact, where is the operating manual…? It was when we switched to formula, because I had to go back to work, that the smell became ripe. What’s in that stuff?
It’s not just the smell we’re trying to keep pure as they grow older and more adorable, it’s life. Paul’s admonition to live in the world but not of it attempts to help us realise this goal, but from experience I would have to lock all my children away to keep them from those evil tendrils that stalk our young. And as a homeschooler I have often been accused of doing just that… locking them away.
Pederasts and molesters prowl; they charm, entice and mimic our children’s peers in order to corrupt their minds and rob them of their purity. The internet and television sit in our living rooms, kitchens, or bedrooms, allowing free access to our homes, we leave our children with them, the ultimate stranger from whom we’re trying to protect our children.
Well hello there! My name is Vivienne McNeny.
I am an empty nester exploring life as a Boomer…you could say I'm happily Boomering along!
As a homeschooling Mum I have finally quit the job of role model and mentor to my four children. I do what I want to do, eat when I feel like it, enjoy life with my blue eyed cowboy and clean my house once a month or so whether it needs it or not!
In true English form I write about the emergence of my true identity now that I can no longer hide behind my children as their Mum.
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