[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

I think the saying I quoted means...That the most basic ideas of life: respect for others, doing what is responsible, making your own way, are instilled in children by the folks around them and who are loving them and teaching them when they are VERY young.

They may later change from Catholic to Protestant, From Democrat to Republican, from a golfer to a tennis player (OH GOD) from Religious to non religious, from non religious to religious, but it is very unlikely that they will become a crook, if they are raised by ethical parents.

But the name of the thread suggests that we should be talking about charitable acts rather than values in general.

We watched a report on TV this morning of a woman paying another woman's Walmart bill. I am not sure how I feel about that, other than the woman who did it is very kind. Is it the BEST way to help people? I don't know.

We saw that t.v. spot as well.............

Our son and his wife often "pay it forward" when they are dining out and they see an elderly person or one in the armed forces, eating alone.......they quietly pay the bill for them, via the waiter.
They prefer to give to an individual rather than an institution.

His wife had a ramp built up to her side door, so a disabled friend of hers could visit in his mobility scooter and wheelchair.....an expense she needn't incur but did it out of the kindness of her heart.

Our son and his doctor friend traveled to Cambodia and Vietnam to deliver some scholarship money raised by the young "D's" (can't say the party)......had a difficult time finding the young girl's school per se......finally did.......it was a "floating raft school" run by Catholic priests.........an adventure for sure.


On other occasions he lived with "raft people" at a major lake area after climbing Macchu Picchu in Peru..........he's seen the poverty in our world.....as well as the riches. The poverty touches him deeply.

Ditto for our daughter. Just the other day, her family voluntarily pitched in to help out a family near them who needed to harvest their hay field.

She said it was VERY HOT WORK but was worthwhile and gave them a lot of satisfaction in helping the needy family...........pitch forking hay in 90 degree weather with high humidity is not a pleasant task, for sure........

Her 12 year old son, our beloved one and only grandson, traveled with a faith based group (out of his middle school/high school) to Nicaragua to teach English to the villagers..........quite the learning experience. The photos tell quite the story.......about the abundance we all live with here in the United States......compared to how many in Central America live. Do gooders, I guess.......meaning our "kids".

Again, all of our children are kind, giving, loving, helpful and highly intelligent plus well rounded.........and most of all happy. Good citizens of the U.S. and the world.

[Cedwards38]

Originally Posted by CFrance

I agree with Buggy. All I care about is that they be responsible citizens and kind-hearted people who respect others' opinions. And that's what we got, and I think going to college helped them to further those qualities that we tried to model when they were growing up.

You have to let go. At some point they go on to be their own selves. We encouraged ours to leave the somewhat isolated, conservative community of west Michigan where kids stayed together from pre-school through college, and go find out that there were other types of people in the world. They took it and ran with it. I'm proud, but I miss them! Thank God for Skype.

[emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by senior citizen

We saw that t.v. spot as well.............

Our son and his wife often "pay it forward" when they are dining out and they see an elderly person or one in the armed forces, eating alone.......they quietly pay the bill for them, via the waiter.
They prefer to give to an individual rather than an institution.

His wife had a ramp built up to her side door, so a disabled friend of hers could visit in his mobility scooter and wheelchair.....an expense she needn't incur but did it out of the kindness of her heart.

Our son and his doctor friend traveled to Cambodia and Vietnam to deliver some scholarship money raised by the young "D's" (can't say the party)......had a difficult time finding the young girl's school per se......finally did.......it was a "floating raft school" run by Catholic priests.........an adventure for sure.


On other occasions he lived with "raft people" at a major lake area after climbing Macchu Picchu in Peru..........he's seen the poverty in our world.....as well as the riches. The poverty touches him deeply.

Ditto for our daughter. Just the other day, her family voluntarily pitched in to help out a family near them who needed to harvest their hay field.

She said it was VERY HOT WORK but was worthwhile and gave them a lot of satisfaction in helping the needy family...........pitch forking hay in 90 degree weather with high humidity is not a pleasant task, for sure........

Her 12 year old son, our beloved one and only grandson, traveled with a faith based group (out of his middle school/high school) to Nicaragua to teach English to the villagers..........quite the learning experience. The photos tell quite the story.......about the abundance we all live with here in the United States......compared to how many in Central America live. Do gooders, I guess.......meaning our "kids".

Again, all of our children are kind, giving, loving, helpful and highly intelligent plus well rounded.........and most of all happy. Good citizens of the U.S. and the world.

I can feel the pride you have in your children. I am so blessed to see the same beautiful trait in the people who are close to me. The children may not be similar to each other, but the beautiful emotion of parental love is. Sometimes our children change US to be more like them. That is the treasure to living to be this old.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by njbchbum

CFrance - You mention the 1980's! Is your post based on the '80s or today? Mine is based on my niece's family in the Bible belt of the south today!

I'm not sure if the ban on playing with kids of other religions still holds true today, because we haven't been in the real estate market in that area since then. But the reasons for home schooling still hold true.

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

I can feel the pride you have in your children. I am so blessed to see the same beautiful trait in the people who are close to me. The children may not be similar to each other, but the beautiful emotion of parental love is. Sometimes our children change US to be more like them. That is the treasure to living to be this old.

Yes, we all are fortunate to be able to take pride in our adult children as well as the grandchildren.....also, you are correct in saying that it is a treasure to live to experience it all.

Right now, after returning from two weeks in Colorado camping in the Rockies with her children, etc. etc......touring all the museums in Denver, etc, seeing baby goats being born at their uncle's home...........and after pitching the hay crop to help out a family who "barters" horseback riding for our grandchildren in Vermont, our daughter is now working on the next two months of hosting Chinese students from mainland China for a cultural exchange. It's just her "Summer Work Schedule" as she is the E.S.L. director of these exchange programs.......and teaches E.S.L. and E.L.L. during school year.


''This summer, Spiral International is hosting language and cultural programs for visiting Chinese students. As these programs draw ever closer, we are still in need of 13 host families plus 8 more. Hosting is a great way to support diversity in local education'''

Our grandchildren learn so much from these visiting foreign students each year..........

Mainland China (affluent families send their students to U.S.) to rural Vermont is quite a big sea change. Ditto for the host families and VT students......

I marvel at all of their "energy".......and ultimate rewarding experiences they all share. This generation of "youth" has made the world a smaller place, for sure.

[senior citizen]

From: The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran


　
On Children
Kahlil Gibran
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

[dirtbanker]

I have seen kids from good parents (doing all the things good parents are expected to do and none of the things bad parents do) turn into terrible adults.

I have seen kids from bad parents (doing all the things bad parents do and none of the things good parents are expected to do) turn into terrific adults.

There is no exact recipe for a troubled or non troubled child, it is a good amount of luck (good or bad). If you were lucky enough to have good children that turned into terrific adults, be thankful you had some good luck.

I will let you guys get back to arguing which type of schooling is going to turn children into terrific adults. LOL.

[graciegirl]

I want to argue about philosophical quotes.

I like most of what Bill Cosby has to say.

Bill Cosby Quotes - BrainyQuote

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by dirtbanker

I have seen kids from good parents (doing all the things good parents are expected to do and none of the things bad parents do) turn into terrible adults.

I have seen kids from bad parents (doing all the things bad parents do and none of the things good parents are expected to do) turn into terrific adults.

There is no exact recipe for a troubled or non troubled child, it is a good amount of luck (good or bad). If you were lucky enough to have good children that turned into terrific adults, be thankful you had some good luck.

I will let you guys get back to arguing which type of schooling is going to turn children into terrific adults. LOL.

There are exceptions to everything. They don't disprove the standard.

[Cedwards38]

It seems to me that when pundits refer to a college education as "indoctrination," we've reached another example of Orwellian Doublespeak. I don't want my girls to be clones of me. I want them to be intelligent and independent thinkers.

[dirtbanker]

I always told my kids: "I don't want you to be just like me, I want you to be better than me.

[dirtbanker]

Originally Posted by CFrance

I used to go to buy sheet music from a store that sold home-schooling materials. Frequently there would be mothers there with all of their children. It was like you just let your dog free on the beach. They didn't know how to act in public. And I knew adults who grew up in such social isolation and were raising their children in the same manner. Carbon copies.

I have witnessed many a number of non home - schooled (private and public schooled) children that appeared to be wild. Ideally we could discount that by stating:

Originally Posted by CFrance

There are exceptions to everything. They don't disprove the standard.

[Boudicca]

see my post "Villagers Generosity"