Intresting phrase........

I read something in a book I am reading today. It is one of those women’s type books that only read when there is nothing else here that I haven’t read. Anyway, the main character used the expression ‘glamorized sin’ that is shown on television and in the movies. That made me stop and think how things have changed over the years since I was a child.

I remember watching television with my mother and my oldest brother’s wife. It was a soap opera, not sure which one, but I usually didn’t watch them anyway. I had been reading and something my sister-in-law said made me look up from my book at the TV. There on the screen, in full view of God and everyone, a man was laying on his stomach on a couch and a woman was lying on top of him. They were talking, not doing anything else, but, talk about shocked! Remember, we were used to married couples having separate beds, at least on TV.

My sister-in-law was completely shocked, and could not stop talking about it. Now, people say hello and fall into bed. It is ‘cool’ to sleep with someone, because, after all, we are enlightened, right? Sad, sad situation, it is.

Children do not stay children long enough as it is. Boys are swaggering around with clothes barely hanging on, holding their crouches as if they are afraid they are going to lose something, as they brag about all the girls they have slept with. Girls are wearing make-up and dating at and ungodly early age.

I have four children. I have not always made the best choices, and have done some outright stupid things. But, one thing I did do was remember the dumb things I had done, so that when my children became teenagers I was ready for them. They knew that they most likely were not going to get anything passed me, even though they tried. My oldest son did anyway, he always was stubborn. One thing I did not allow them to do was date before they were sixteen. I didn’t think that sixteen was a magic age where as soon as they reached it they would be wise in the ways of the world. I wanted them to be children while they were children. I did not want them growing up too fast and then regretting it when they were really grown. So, I laid down a few rules, so that when they were pressured by their friends, they could let them know what they were allowed and not allowed to do. There were times things were a little tense at home, when they tried to argue me into changing my mind. They never did.

Now, with three of them married, they let me know how much they appreciate what I did, especially now that they have children. They see how fast time truly flies by and they want their children to have the memories of being a child.

There are a lot of stupid things I did over the years, but being strict with my children was not one of them.