Mother Knows Best

If I wasn't a big enough Disney dork already, my husband bought me a journal yesterday with Ariel on the cover. Ariel was my first Disney love. My entire bedroom was decorated with Ariel. When I was "too big" to have an Ariel themed bedroom, I decorated with shells and dolphins. Today, my house has a very prominent oceanic theme. In spite of my Snow White exterior, I am an Ariel at heart.

Yesterday, I was telling my sister about the new movie Frozen that is coming to theaters this Thanksgiving. She replied with something that set me aback. "So it's another movie of a princess with mother issues? Name one movie that doesn't have a stepmother or the mother isn't in the picture." I replied with The Princess and the Frog, and Sleeping Beauty (if you could really count that since she was raised by her "aunts"). The more I thought about her statement, the more I realized it as true.

We hear all the time about fathers being absent from their child's life and the damage that does, but we can't let the mothers slide! There is something so essential for mothers to spend time with their daughters.

In several popular country songs, the singer says how Momma raised them to "rip up the town" or how their mom was from a "softer generation" so that gives the singer a right to act unbecoming. In both scenarios, I see how the mother was lax in her raising. Either she led her daughter down the wrong path by teaching habits that are inappropriate, or she was passive and let her daughter rule the roost.

Don't get me wrong, fathers play a crucial role in raising daughters, but mothers definitely have the greater responsibility. If a mother is a woman of virtue and lives a life according to Christ, she is the perfect model in which to mold her daughter after. If a mother is not spiritually strong enough to do this, it may be in her better interest to align herself with the Word of God before trying to teach morals and standards. Otherwise, you run a very high risk of causing your daughter to repeat history, or make decisions she should never have to.

Passive parenting seems to be the only kind of parenting nowadays. Everyone wants to be their child's friend and not oppress them. Do these parents not know about the damage that causes? When you want to be your child's friend, you are giving up your authority and making yourself equal with your child (or vice-versa). Your child will not respect you as a parent, but will eventually try to dominate you. This should never be! The role of the parent is to guide their child firmly and lovingly. the Bible says that we are to raise children in the way they should go, and when they are old they will not depart from it.

Because I am a teacher, I see myself as a part-time parent. During the eight hours I am with my students, I am guiding them in the way they should go. I teach them about the world around them, what is right and wrong, and show them God's truth in His Word. Although I did not give birth to them, or teach them to walk and talk, I feel like I am just as much of a mother as anybody.

I encourage all my mothers to consider how they parent. Are you showing your children what is acceptable and good? Are you supportive, but firm? Are you giving your children what they need to be productive members of society? If not, find someone to help you with this journey. Find a friend, a Christian book, or even a pastor to help you sift through your parenting skills and see where your strengths and weaknesses lie. Research ways to strengthen your parenting, but always model it after Biblical teaching. If you are not a parent, begin thinking of how you want to raise your children. It is never too early, or too late, to better yourself and enrich your life and the lives around you.

Snow White Syndrome

Ok so I have already expressed my love for Snow White. I am a Disney dork. Get over it.

Throughout my life I have been picked on, exiled, and have befriended people that would be considered "beneath me" according to my morals and social class. Why is this? Because of jealous girls.

I call this Snow White Syndrome (S.W.S)

Think about it: Snow White was shunned by the queen because of her beauty (not saying that is the reason I was shunned by others) and befriended those who were outside of her regular circle.

My S.W.S. occurred because of my high moral compass. It all began in grade school. If you were to meet me back then, you would notice immediately that I was not like the other kids. I was mild mannered and wouldn't play with others in my school group. Most often, I would be off singing to myself or playing alone. Why? Because I found my classmates to be crude and annoying. I did not like the games they played or the jokes they made. I was teased for not being like them.

To combat my loneliness, I would read, draw, or pull a Disney Princess and make up songs to sing. My classmates would make fun of my innocent behavior and tried their best to corrupt me. Of course I refused to be like them and separated myself even more from them. I was actually sent to the counselor because I wouldn't socialize.

I finally decided that if I was going to make friends, I would find others who felt the same way I did. I find two lovely ladies: Anastasia and Ashley. They stuck with me through the rest of our grade school days. In middle school, I transferred schools because the bullying was so bad. I though t I was safe, but it only took one girl to undo all of my happiness. She was so jealous of me that she filled my perfume bottle with pine sol, ruining one of my favorite things. She was later dismissed from the school due to other issues.

The bullying didn't stop. High school brought on new pressures: sex, drinking, drugs, leaving my beliefs in order to be accepted, you know the drill. I was able to withstand all of this due to my high moral compass. Yet again, S.W.S was rearing it's pretty little head and labeled me as a goody-goody.

College was the one place where relentless bullying was nonexistent. I was at a Christian school that accepted me just as I was... sort of. Even there I was labeled as a goody-goody with too rigid and narrow-minded beliefs. I guess when they said liberal arts college, they meant it! I wasn't bullied in college, but the label still held me back.

So here I am, a teacher at a private school that accepts my Snow White Syndrome and sees it as valuable. If you suffer from S.W.S in any way, shape, or form, do no try to change your wonderful ways. There is nothing wrong with the way you think, it is the world that has the problem.

Take just a moment to think of the Fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, and all the others. Galatians 5:22-23 lists these nine character traits as something all Christians should posses. I see all of those traits in Snow White. I admire this Disney Princess because she shows the perfect personality of a Christian (minus the constant singing and overly dramatic gestures. That's just Disney). Even through the hardest of times, she never once displayed a disrespectful attitude, nor did she dwell on the fact that the queen wanted her dead. She lived her life with a positive attitude and was grateful for everything, even while being treated like a slave girl and and outcast.

To all of those who have S.W.S of any degree, please do not change. Continue to do good deeds, to have a positive attitude, to see the good in others. Be trusting, be kind, be friendly. Bring joy into the lives of others. Make up songs to sing. Be a Snow White!

~*Beth*~