The Missional Mom Blog
Prone to Overparenting?
Our family had reached a breaking point: my eldest son was in first grade and was tired all the time from a combination of school, music, sports, church, and lessons in Mandarin on Sundays. The reason he was taking Mandarin wasn’t to honor our family heritage (we are not Chinese-American), but because of a random phrase that his piano teacher had uttered in passing when he was five: “The children in my studio who go to Chinese school are the best ones at memorizing music as well,” she said. “Something about learning all those characters must strengthen their brains.”
That was enough to send me into a flurry of Mandarin-mania, and within six months, my son was learning all about tones and Pinyin and how to say useful phrases such as “the balloon flew away” in Chinese. And this was just one example.
Any program or activity that I thought would help him maximize his fullest potential, I’d sign him up for without hesitation. When he was an infant, I read that getting sufficient sleep was critical for a child’s brain and personality development, which turned me into an sleep-compulsive mom. My mother, witnessing the militant way I observed naptime and bedtime schedules, scoffed at my inflexibility. “We never did this with you guys,” she said of me and my brother. “You stayed up late, you slept when you slept, what is wrong with that? You turned out fine.”
Undeterred, I retorted: “But we could have turned out so much better!”
So yes, I admit it: I have been more than guilty of overparenting, multiple times over, with all three of my sons. I confess that I still am, on occasion. But in recent years, something happened to me. I realized that when it comes to the endless array of activities and options for our generation of kids, it is possible to plan too much of a good thing.
Recently, the social media universe went abuzz over an article in Boston Magazine entitled “Welcome to the Age of Overparenting.” Actually, in some ways the title is misleading: the trend towards overparenting… Read More >>
Featured Missional Moms
Real-Life Missional Moms!
Here is a short slideshow featuring photos and quotes from real-life missional moms who appear in the book. I think you’ll be inspired by even just the short snippets that are shown here, and you…
Latest News
Helen Speaks at Chosen 2012
I had the honor and privilege of being one of the keynote speakers for Seacoast Church‘s first women’s conference, which they aptly titled “Chosen”. It was an amazing experience, where I was truly humbled to be on the platform with other women who were incredible speakers (Lisa Bevere and Jo Saxton), as well as spending time with a group of moms who are inspiring me with their missional lives. Check out a peek of the Chosen 2012 recap here. And if you live anywhere near Charleston, SC, make plans to attend Chosen 2013!
Follow!
