Parenting Goals

Being a parent is hard work... obviously. Every parent you will ever meet probably says this regularly, because it is true. As a parent there are dozens of things I have to balance: healthy eating, social interaction, house cleaning, getting enough sleep, staying sane, and (oh yeah) marriage. Because there is so much to do, it is easy to let myself slip into ‘autopilot’ and just get through my day. Survival sometimes seems impossible for me, so how could I do more?
Enough whining for now: parenting is a phenomenal gift (and I love it). I don’t just want to get through the next 18+ years, I want to intentionally raise Odin so that (to the best of my ability) he is an amazing man. I have many dreams and goals for him, and I know that they just won’t ‘happen’ to come about: I need to be an intentional mom.
Having lofty goals and dreams is great, but I need a specific plan of action if things like ‘encourage Odin to love truth’ are ever going to happen. I wanted to write down (and publicly share for accountability) what my dreams for Odin are. If I’m being honest, this is what I want for myself, my husband, and just about everybody I know.... but for now I’ll work on developing it in myself so that I can (hopefully) guide Odin to these.
Physically
-Have energy to be passionate about life
-Be in good shape so that he is not limited by exhaustion, lack of strength or stamina, people’s perceptions, or excess
-Know what good food is and how to eat it, but not be so picky that he insults others
-Be disciplined so that a lack of sleep, food, or energy doesn’t cripple him
Socially
-Truly love others as God loves Him
-Be able to assess a social situation, and read what others are thinking
-Be comfortable in a group or alone
-Have at least one really good friend
Emotionally
-Be self aware to recognize emotions and where they come from
-Understand what energizes him
-Be able to express himself clearly and appropriately when big emotions are involved
Mentally
-Love Truth
-Understand a variety of worldviews and be able to rationally know why he chose his
-Have a wide enough knowledge base to understand topics of general conversation
-Have the research/learning skills to find answers to any question
-Have an ‘always-ready-to-learn’ attitude
Spiritually
-Truly love Jesus
-Be a warrior for the Kingdom of God and actively destroying evil
-Have the confidence to share Jesus with others

I also have some general principles I want to teach him that don’t fit perfectly into any category. Here are some of them...
-Small choices determine character
-Be able to prioritize
-Always keep growing and learning
-Life isn’t fair, make the most of the opportunities you are given
-Life is a process with seasons
-Guard your heart
-Do things right the first time, and if you don’t fix it

May the Lord have mercy over my parenting!