Saturday, November 20, 2010

Learning Experiences

I got a new calling ( for those non LDS'ers, that's like an assignment in church) a few weeks ago. I now teach the 12/13 year olds Sunday School. Did I mention there are like 15 of them? Yeah. My first reaction when they asked me to do this was "NO WAY!". But after some debating I thought I'd give it a go and see how it was.

It's not as bad as a I thought in some ways. But other ways it's harder. I so remember what it was like to be that age (ie my last post when I said I was a 14 year old trapped in a 26 year old body...). I remember the way a 13 year old thinks. I'm trying to teach these kids to make wise decisions, and that the perils of teenage Dom are only temporary. I'm sure as I'm talking the girls are thinking about boys, make up and clothes and the boys are thinking about girls and... well I'm not sure what else and I think it's better that way.

I'm trying to prevent youth from being wasted on the young, but that is the whole point of it I guess. We have our own experiences ( both good and bad) and that is what we learn from.

I started thinking about my childhood friends, and how different we all are now. Some in good ways and some in really really bad ways. Why did some of us turn out ok, and others not so much? It's mind boggling how we all start out the same way, young, innocent, bright eyed and bushy tailed. And then some go so far astray they aren't even in the same pasture anymore.

How do we prevent that? Or more so how do I prevent that with these kids? I now the answer, but it's a hard pill to swallow. I can't prevent it. I can tell them what I know, what I've learned and what I believe. The rest is up to them. I suppose this calling is preparing me for when Brynlee gets older and I can't control what she does anymore.

Which I do, all the time. I guess I'm a bit of a control freak with her. Hey you have your kid near death in the hospital for 2 weeks and see how you turn out. I'm probably going to be overprotective for the rest of my life now.

I know that is part or my problem, that I'm overprotective with these kids. I don't want anything bad to happen to them. I don't want them to make stupid decisions. I want them to learn from others mistakes. But I know I'm fighting a losing battle because they won't learn. They have to make mistakes for themselves to grow. I get what needs to happen, but it doesn't mean I have to like it!

1 comment:

Audrey Spence said...

I teach the 14 and 15 yr olds and I love it! I was actually telling them today, since we were talking about being good shepards, that I'm kinda like their shepard. I was giving the calling I have to teach them and its my responsibility to teach them those lessons and that I hope they learn at least one thing every week otherwise I feel like I failed. We have some amazing youth in our ward and I'm really lucky. But really all we can do is just teach to the best of our ability and hope that the influence of their parents and their knowledge of the gospel backs them up when tough times hit. I think you're right. It's a good calling to prepare for when our kids get older and learning how to teach them the best we can.


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