Parenting As Hospitality

Nothing could be more crucial to parenting as hospitality. It is the most necessary aspect of raising a child. For with hospitality parents are required to recognize the person, and the individual that is their child, and to give this person full respect and consideration. It is striking how often parents fail to do so. And it is not at all surprising how messed up a child becomes when mistreated by a parent. Like the old saying goes, as the tree is bent, so shall it grow. Show me an adult that is lacking proper social skills, and I'll show you someone who was not treated with respect by their parents. And that old excuse is hogwash – where supposedly a perfectly good parent ends up with a malcontent for a child. Give me a break. Such things are only said by people who are afraid to look past the facades of our disingenuous society. People say, “oh, but they were good people. How could they end up with such a bad child?” By what measure are these people deemed “good?” Because they've never been in trouble with the law? Because they are hard workers? Because they pay their bills on time? Because they attend Church? Sorry, but none of these things guarantee good parenting skills. Especially good intentions. Saying, “I did the best I could,” is the worst excuse for poorly raising a child. Raising a good child requires a tremendous amount of effort. First and foremost, a parent should make the effort to learn how to properly raise a child. Getting knocked up does not also magically impregnate someone with good parenting skills.

A child is not an animal to be mastered, but a human to be loved. And mastering your child is NOT an act of love. Neither is beating your child, nor is belittling your child, or another other act that is demeaning or degrading. Love is only love when it builds a person up, makes a person stronger, teaches the person to love in return. If you treat your children with hospitality, they will treat you with hospitality in return. Anything less, and you failed to properly raise your child.