The Innocent

   Such a special day. First day of kindergarten. As I looked at the line of kids waiting with my son to go in, I wondered if any of these as yet innocent kids would grow up to be criminals.
   Excuse me!?? Wow, I've got to lay off watching the evening news. Of course my kid was not included in my musings. 
   My kid had the strong love and, support of two parents. My kid had a stay at home mom who lovingly prepared him with 1 2 3's,  a,b,c's, his name and colors. This kid was always presented with age appropriate entertainment that we all watched together. 
   We are a family of Christians who regularly attended church, who know that you can learn about salvation at church, but attendance is not what saves you.
   With all these advantages, you would think, doing your best and never slacking, your kids would all turn out just fine.
   Sure, then there is the real world.
   These kids were not the best students. Not bad, but not the best. That would be okay if you saw an effort from the teachers to get better work out of them. However, everything comes back marked "satisfactory" in that second grade class. Meanwhile, in the fifth grade class, the teacher is ranting at the students about the fact that they can't spell. This is observed after listening to the kindergarten teacher expose joyfully, to the parents about the program they have in place to let the kids "just spell things the way they think they should be spelled, according to how the word sounds."
    My oldest was in the 5th grade class at the time and would spell special, s p e s h a l l. Drove me nuts. So, we home schooled. This was a bonus! No creepy, public school values being presented to our kids.
   Our kids did flourish at home. They are all five of them great writers. They have grown up mature and articulate. They were told on numerous occasions, by people they had just met, that they were well spoken and had great vocabularies. They had activities and social interactions. They also had, personalities!
   A strong willed independence. A deep soul searcher. A free spirit. One that has not been able to buckle down yet, and the last whose nose is to the grindstone.
   Two of those have rejected the faith they were brought up with. One is gay. One wants to be accepted by, and do what the others do, and one has sought out the christian faith and embraced it all on his own.
   Sometimes you can't win as a parent. I look at it like this. Sometimes eating right , exercising and using sunscreen does not stave off cancer.
   In as much as God gives us freedom of choice, we can do no less with our kids. I can not make them be, see, do and choose what I told them was best. They have the freedom of choice that God gave them.
   Yet, I have won as a parent. I have thoroughly enjoyed these kids their whole lives. I continue to do so. They are all loving and supportive of each other. 
   When we gather together at holidays etc., we bask in the quick wit and joy of each others presence. A huge sharing of pure love that grew within a family.
   P.S. I have not as yet seen any of that kindergarten class in the evening news.