Love and Strategy

What it is:

Writing for the Atlantic, David French suggests that the parenting model you choose when raising your kids is less relevant than choosing some way, any way, to be intentional and consistent.

Why it’s hopeful:

French points to recent debates on whether “intensive parenting” can set kids up for success, or if it kneecaps future adults by limiting their freedoms. Other parenting models, such as “gentle,” “freerange,” and even “good enough” parenting all have their pros and cons. Parenting that really works has enough flexibility built in to account for what individual children need. It also requires humility (as some of us already know all too well) to recognize when something isn’t working and to make changes when they’re necessary for everybody’s well-being. As Christians, we know that humans aren’t so good at knowing the “best” ways of raising children. When we love our kids unconditionally, give them tools to spot and run from evil, and point them toward God’s goodness, we’re setting our family members up for a lifetime of learning who God is and so many fruitful, rich conversations about what that means for us on earth.

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