That phrase is true in my house. This morning, I find myself in complete silence except the tapping of my fingers on the keys. The kids are still sleeping. If they were not sleeping and it was this quiet that usually means someone is sneaking something in the fridge. My youngest is either playing in the chocolate syrup, or taking her dolls to the potty. Cracking eggs onto the floor, inside of fridge, etc. You get the idea. If it is my oldest, she is probably trying to sneak to look up mermaid videos on youtube, which she knows she is not allowed to be on unless we are in the room. Why can't she get on youtube to look that stuff up? Well, because no matter what phrase you start typing in, there are several different types of videos that pop up before her mermaids come up. I am trying to deter her from seeing certain items that I see as not only inappropriate for her, but if I find it inappropriate for even my age I certainly don't want my 10 yr old seeing it either.
We as adults who have little ones we care about, whether it be our own kids our nieces, nephews, grandkids, etc. we have duty to protect them from harm. If they were to run out into the street we'd go as fast as we could to get them out before they were hit by a car. Have you pondered that same scenario for their little hearts? Same is true. Wouldn't you want to protect them from harm to their heart, mind, and souls? Think about it for a moment. I did, that is why I'm writing this. They are innocently looking at something that isn't bad, but in the first little video that previews to the side there is something not so innocent. Evil exists in this world and it is after your kids. It trolls around everywhere. Like a lion looking for its prey. Waiting in the wings for the moment they are alone from you to pounce and devour them. You well know that once you see or hear something it is very difficult for you to never think of that image or phrase again. Maybe, I'm an overprotective parent but I'd rather protect them for as long as I can while I can.
Too much in this world can be said about the beginning of that phrase "Silence is Golden, except... young men are exposed earlier these days to pornographic images that completely distort their vision of how to respect and treat a girl. Girls, are exposed earlier to images of what their bodies should look like, or what they should wear to "attract" a male's attention. It is everywhere, and while I can't control what others do I can however attempt to control what happens in my home and teach my kids to respect themselves and others. If you want your daughters to dress modestly, have you noticed how difficult it is to go to a regular store and find appropriate length shorts, dresses, ones not so tight or shirts that attempt to show cleavage they don't yet have. It is disheartening as a mom to think about the fact that designers are exploiting our young ones bodies they haven't grown into yet, all for the name of profit. Again, 'seeking out to devour their self worth'.
We sometimes get so fed up with things that we email, call, or post at a companies webpage. We no longer want to stay silent. We shouldn't. Staying silent is okay when it is quiet like this morning and I'm enjoying this quiet moments when all is still in the house and I know the kids aren't up trying to get into something they shouldn't. End the Silence when it is something that can hurt your child or someone else's.
I can't speak for how boys are attacked besides the images of what a girl should look like, or how they should treat them as their property instead of as a person. I try as hard as I can to inject positive images onto my children. They are beautiful and worth so much more to GOD and to us as parents who love them unconditionally than what a magazine, clothing rack, or billboard tries to show them. I want them to see themselves as a precious gem being refined through processes that sometimes are painful, because it goes against what maybe their friends at school or what television shows them. I'd rather them go through the process of being an individual than just be another lump of coal being used as fuel for something else. We are all precious, worth more than what we can see for ourselves.
I often tell my kids, "Aside from a surprise party, if you have to hide, sneak, or stay quiet about something you or someone else is doing, than it is wrong. You need to either not to do it all, or tell someone what is happening."
Keep moving forward. Challenge: Tell your kids you love them. Show them you do. Maybe by our actions we can change the need to be silent.
Silence is Golden, except...
