Talking about spring planting and gardens made me think about how many similarities there are between raising children and the process of growing anything. With any project whether it be growing flowers or veggies, you need to prepare the soil really well. This needs to happen at the beginning of your 'season.' You cannot attempt to do it once those plants are up and have grown too tall.

With kids this season is when they are little. As children they have open minds, learn quickly, and still are malleable. This is the time when you want to put all those good ideas in their minds. Just like making sure their bodies get the nutrients they need, the mind must be fed well to develop happy human beings. This is the time when you can plant the seeds that will ensure kids will grow into healthy individuals. Do you know most of what we learn is absorbed in the first few years? If we learn a healthy respect for authority then, it probably will carry on into adulthood. Plant the seed of tolerance and kids will grow up to respect others regardless of the differences. In this world, we must learn to get along and respect diversity. They will not grow into bigots and racists unless they are sown that seed as a child.

The beginnings of a value system are formed during this period. If you wish to pass along your faith, now is the time to plant those seeds. Do you want to instill a sense of fairness, justice, and integrity? Begin to dig in the fertile soil of this innocent child. Later, it may be way too late.

So, you've planted these good things and more. It is just the beginning. Now, we need to weed out all the bad stuff that interferes with their growing straight and tall. We must remove the evil from our kid's life as best we can. Watch what they see, hear, and experience. We can do this partly, by not leaving things to chance.
First when kids are gone, know what they are doing. Who are their companions? Are they feeding your kids nourishment that uplifts and builds self-esteem, or are they crowding their minds with perverted truths, and contributing to those weeds? Not, just their friends, but the adults they are in contact with, including teachers, church and scout leaders. Do your kids' companions trash your values, question your judgments, and tear down your child's ethics?

Parents can help all kids by guiding what they do with their free time. The wrong programs on TV, the wrong music, can give the wrong message. You will not always be there to correct misinformation or values you do not share. But if you keep lines of communication open, you can often undo any damage. So keep on feeding, watering, weeding and you will have a healthy, strong plant or a well-adjusted, heading- down- the- right- road- kid. You will find your child has a well-rooted foundation of family, faith, values, and ethics. His personality will branch out to include many interests and hobbies. He will be healthy in his opinions and strong enough to not break in any wind that tries to destroy his principles. This process is a continual one and will last for many seasons as you raise this child to adulthood.

Credits: Jo Ann Wentzel