Mom’s Teaching Times
Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching. Proverbs 1:8
Being caught in traffic is the worst. It does, however, offer unique people watching opportunities.
Today, I was crawling along in tandem with a young woman who had two young girls in car seats in her backseat. We. Were. Inching. Along. Slowly. (Under 5 mph slow).
It was one of those times when you go a few feet, stop for a few seconds, and go again. The pattern repeated many times.
In all those times that mother never put her cell phone down. She lifted her eyes off of it long enough to move ahead and then back down. A couple of times I was sure she was going to rear end the car in front of her but she never did.
In the backseat I could see her two children stretching their necks to see what was happening in front of them. I am afraid all they saw was their Mom texting on her cellphone.
I wondered what kind of example she was setting.
I always hate to see any parent missing an opportunity to interact with her children. My concern in this case went a little further. I was wondering what her kids were learning about driving a car. They learn by example. Their Mom was teaching them that driving and using a cell phone can be done at the same time.
I sort of chuckled at myself as I thought about the ages of these children. By the time they can drive, there will probably be technology driving the cars and watching for the traffic in front of them. Or, every car will have a built in, hands free, phone system so that you listen to your texts, rather than reading.
But, for now, we have to be careful what our kids see us, and hear us, doing while we drive (and sit and stand and walk along the road). As a parent, there is no time that we are in the presence of our children that we are not teaching something.
What are we teaching them every day? I ask not just for me, but because when that woman’s children will be driving, so will my grandchildren. I don’t want any of them killing each other because we were neglecting our responsibilities as parents (and grandparents).
Mom’s teaching times are all the time. Is what we are teaching right? Is it godly? Is it helpful to them or will it trip them up when it is their turn to be the adult?