Posts Tagged ‘parenting’

Parenting Children with Albinism

Saturday, January 3rd, 2009

When Abby and I first found out that our first child (Amber) had albinism, we were worried about what that would mean.  Our minds feared the worst: that they would get burned every time they went out into the sun, that they wouldn’t be able to see across the room, that they’d be called “freaks” and laughed at because of their unusual appearance.  After things settled down, though, we realized that it’s not that big of a deal.  So when our second child (Corban) came along and we saw right away that he had albinism too, we were fine with it.

Everybody has something.  We all have things we need to overcome or deal with.  For our children, their albinism means that they’ll need to get the front row in class, put on lots of sunscreen, and maybe not drive when they’re older.

But there are also some positives.  Having beautiful blond hair and blue eyes makes them stand out.  People compliment their appearance all the time.  When they’re older, their unique appearance will make them memorable, which may give them an advantage in whatever they decide to do.  I’m not saying that having albinism is the key to success, but I am saying that having the right attitude about it can turn it into a positive rather than negative trait.

While writing this post, Abby asked me what I was doing, and I told her I was writing a post about parenting children with albinism.  Without delay, she stated that it was simply “parenting up close.”  That pretty much sums it up.  We get a lot closer to them when we smile, we wave toys right in front of their eyes when we want them to play with them, and we make sure not to be too far from them at the playground (otherwise they may not find their way back to us!).  Parenting children with albinism is pretty much the same as parenting children without albinism – only closer (and more sunscreen).

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Raising Christian Children

Wednesday, December 31st, 2008

I regularly watch videos made by atheists on youtube in order to understand their perspective more, and in order to challenge my own beliefs. If we’re honest with ourselves, we can learn from just about anyone. Every person has a unique experience which leads to their own unique outlook. I am often spurned to do more research into my own beliefs because of something I watched in one of these videos.

Recently, one of the videos I watched made the argument (and I’ve heard it before) that Christians indoctrinate their children with their own faith, causing them to be closed-minded and intolerant of other religious beliefs. He went on to explain how he raised his children to be free thinkers, not promoting any particular religion over another, and thus allowing his children to decide for themselves what religion, if any, they wanted to identify themselves with.

In some ways, he’s right. I teach my children what it means to be a Christian. I model my faith before them, and hope that they adopt it as their own. I do this because I think it is truth, and therefore important to put into practice, both for me and my children.

Although some parents would lie (or “fib”) to their children about minor things for various reasons, no good parent would purposely lie to their children about something major that would be life-altering. If Christianity is true, then I must raise my children to believe that it is true as well.

Concerning those who raise their children to be “free-thinkers,” they are in reality doing the same thing that I am. They are raising their children to adopt the same belief system that they have: that religion is either unimportant or even harmful and to be avoided.

My children will not become Christians simply because I am a Christian. I hope, however, that they will see my example and place their faith in Christ themselves. I can already see my daughter doing this to some extent, and pray that it will continue and increase in the years to come.

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