But thankfully, I found a handy-dandy article about what to do with grown daughters that is pretty helpful. I mean, I could use this as a guide if Rose hasn't landed a husband by the time she's 18. One good suggestion would be to get together with other Christian families and start match-making. Adult children don't need time and space to make up their own minds, or meet their own spouses and decide for themselves. Bah. Free will is like, really over-rated.
Another thing I could do is to find good volunteering opportunities that would lead (somehow) to her meeting Prince Charming. Like signing her up to clip toenails of the old people in the nursing home! No, really. It's in the article, and besides, acts of Christian service are important in our community. Not to mention, I need to guard my daughter's virginity really, really well and old people? They're never sexual, and old men never attack young women. So there you go. Nursing home. Toenails. I'm sure my daughter would be really likely to meet the man of her dreams that way.
If she doesn't, that's ok. I can keep her as my perpetual (Christian) servant and make her homeschool my younger children. Doggone it, I don't have younger children. Well, I'll think of something. Housework, errands and assorted chores were on the to-do list. I will be pushing 60 when she is in her early 20's, so I'm thinking this will be my retirement. Ahhh.
One caveat: whatever you do, don't let your girls actually work. That's the big Truth with a capital 'T" I came away with. If you let your daughter work, she'll start to earn money. And she might like that. She might also realize that, you know, she's an adult and then she'll start making her own decisions. That would be very bad.
Seriously. I don't know how long this article has been around, but it's Crazy Comment Monday-worthy. All hail the craziness.
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| This is one of my fave pictures of Woodjie. He is so stinkin' cute that I have to repost this when I do a Crazy Comment Monday. |
Thanks for this. I can see where I have gone wrong with my eldest daughter now and will readjust for Miss 7 :P
ReplyDeleteMiss 7 might have other ideas... I know my four-year-old would NO WAY be clipping old man toenails. Really? It's not so much that someone said it, but that I find this link in um, other places as a reference. I don't know if the girls in these families wind up rebellious or in a state of "zombie" as early 20-somethings or what...
DeleteI'm keepin my girl w/in a couple hours for college because she so young, but articles like tees make e crazy. Even if marriage s the goal ( not saying it is) keeping a girl dumb and ignorant and she'll be sure to marry an idiot. Intelligent girls who can take care of themselves actually get the winners. But if you're more concerned about her virginity than her future then, we'll..... Fiollow the articles advice.
ReplyDeleteZactly. There is a balance between reasonable protection and making your child your servant forever. :/
Deletebtw, I used my i-gadget to make that typo riddled comment!
DeleteGood grief. I couldn't even finish the article, I was so overcome with the urge to find that guy and punch him in the face. I mean, embroider a pillow.
ReplyDeleteLuckily, my daughter has told me that when she grows up, she is going to marry me and she will live in the apartment above mine and we will be together forever and I will also be permitted to make her breakfast before she goes off to work to be a doctor. So we're good.
Ha ha! That would be... interesting.
DeleteGood grief. It reads like something out of the mid-1800s (John Ruskin's Queen's Gardens comes to mind). I don't have daughters, of course, but I was one once. I am so glad my folks weren't in a position to hover over me. There's a lot be said for learning to live by one's self before learning to live with a mate. And college is as much about self-discovery as it is gaining job skills.
ReplyDeleteWell, you have sons, and I'm thinking you don't want them to have to train the pounded-in-at-home stupid out of their wives...
DeleteThat's a crazy comment alright. One of the craziest.
ReplyDeleteAnd I hope Rosie grows up to have a sensible christian thinking mind of her own. And a good job.
I'd rather she didn't have to work, especially if she becomes a wife and mother. I'm just not so rigid in my thinking to imagine that it's marriage or toenails. Ew.
DeleteThe article was priceless and written by a moron. It sounded like advice from Alby in Big love before he gave some young 13 year old girl to an old lecher ot be one of his multiple wives. Tjhe tow girls I knew who had that sort of limited homeschooling and family lives ended up going wild and getting pregant at an early age as a reaction.
ReplyDeleteHi, Karna! This makes sense to me and honestly I don't even know if I'd call it "going wild." It seems like a normal reaction to some very hostile parenting. Plus there is the fact that becoming a parent puts one in a position of power, something these girls sadly lack overall...
DeleteThis is actually a trend in Christian homeschooling thought. Voddie Baucham is also pushing the idea of protecting your daughters by keeping them at home until they are married. It seems in my mind to be a fear response to the "big bad world." But God wants us to release our children out into the world and into His hands. How will our daughters learn to trust Him when we or their husbands are taking His place as provider and protector? How will they build their confidence by learning to take care of themselves? These men need to read _Understood Betsy_ by Dorothy Canfield Fisher.
ReplyDeleteThe world is big and bad sometimes, and to a certain extent we as a society should make efforts to protect young women (the news of the women's plight in India is horrifying, for example!). But yeahhhh this is a li'l over the top there. And while using commonsense protections for young ladies is admirable, it does demonstrate a lack of faith in God when someone goes this extreme...
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