Rescue parenting. What is it? You may think this an odd name for a blog, but it has become a trend we've observed in many a friend, both with small children and those with grown children. The inclination to keep our children from anything that might bring them discomfort. To rescue them. That can be from periods of hunger (making them wait a minute or two) when they are babies, to rescuing them from the consequences of a traffic ticket when they are 16 (making them actually pay for it with money they earn themselves)! The fact is that with life comes the "uncomfortable". It's just a fact. There are things we don't want to do. We want it to come easy to us. Our children are no different. And when we rescue them, we enable them at becoming dependent on us when one of our main purposes as a parent should be to help them become INDEPENDENT!You may say that it is sheer torture to make a baby wait a few minutes to eat and that is bad parenting. I say, show a baby how to pacify herself and you will have taught her a valuable life lesson! I am not talking about making them scream at the age of 3 weeks for hours on end. That is not what I am saying. But when you feed on demand, as I did for our first 3 children, I wound up with three very demanding little boys who kept me awake all hours of the night for 5 years! They said "jump" and I said "how high?" I never taught them to wait a minute or two. I was at their beck and call. And I paid the price. By the fourth child I learned to teach her how to pacify herself. To entertain herself during a short waiting period. Let's face it. There are just sometimes when you can't get to a screaming baby when your hands are full! It is not going to hurt them to cry a bit and this lesson is best learned when their cries are at a young age and not at age 3! By that age they are much more determined and stubborn. It took me 7 full nights of listening to a crying 2 year old in his crib when I decided enough was enough and it was time he learn to sleep through the night! Don't worry. He is now a well adjusted 21 year old who sleeps (w-a-y) more than he needs to, and yes, all the way through the night!
Discipline as described in the verse below refers to structure, training, correction, not punishment. A mother (or father) running on very little sleep, chasing after a baby's constant cries, brings little sleep and an inability to think clearly. A parent who understands sleep/wake cycles and how it relates to the overall health of a baby will understand the importance of not rescuing at every cry.
Proverbs 29:17 Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart.
