Villagersonline : blogs : eric : Why French Parents Are Superior

From: eric
Date: Mon Feb 13 16:29:53 EST 2012
Subject: Why French Parents Are Superior

Responses
emily: No Subject (2/16/12)

eric: long live France (2/17/12)

tama-chan: No Subject (2/19/12)

Responses (sorted by date)
tama-chan: No Subject (2/19/12)
eric: long live France (2/17/12)
emily: No Subject (2/16/12)

The Article I was talking about in my Sermon.
Love to hear your thoughts and comments.
French Parenting

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From: emily
Date: Thu Feb 16 17:34:59 EST 2012
Subject:

I was not at church this week but I heard that the French are once again superior at something. So I was curious and read the article.
The article ends with the hesitant American mother being mentored into a more confident sense of her own authority. That rings true with my experience here. I believe we have lost our sense of parental authority in this country.
But I'm laughing as I think about how we will all now decide that “confidence in our own authority” is the right thing to do and diligently try to emulate that. Once again undermining our innate sense of authority by believing that we don't know how to be a good parent and that someone out there has the right answer.
Maybe we'll find it in France....
Emily McConnell

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From: eric
Date: Thu Feb 16 23:07:33 EST 2012
Subject: long live France

I enjoyed the article and found it thought provoking. I think the author highlighted issues in America parenting that I've observed in myself and with my peers. Respect for adults in young children has eroded in our culture, and I think it is connected to the postmodern deconstruction of authority and power.

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From: tama-chan
Date: Sat Feb 18 19:01:34 EST 2012
Subject:

My first response to the article was to take all the tips the author of the book learned in France. =)
But the more I think about it, and as Eric touched a little in his response, childrens' respect for adults is a cultural, therefore, a community thing. I don't think only one set of parents can teach kids "respect" for others/authority all by themselves. A community needs to work to create the atmosphere because kids are not only watching their parents but also other adults around them. This existed somewhat in the culture I grew up in, and I think it's something we can work on together.
But really, what does it mean to respect authority? I feel like it's nothing if my children respect what I say because I say it in my stern voice or I say it "confidently." Then, it's not a true respect, but it is just good behavior and it's empty. I want the confidence of my authority to be motivated not by my desire to have my kids behave well but by knowing that I am leading them to the eternal good (i.e. God). What I'd really love to have is for my kids to learn to respect that is driven from their respect for God.

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