It has been a while since I have posted an entry to my blog, I am ashamed to say it has been nearly two years. I blame it on the birth of my first grandchild, Henry. I had no idea that I would love him as much as my very own children. This was a surprise to me. I expected the love for a grandchild to be somehow once removed. When I rave about his perfection to anyone that will listen, my daughter Hannah loves to remind me that she was the one who made him and I remind her, that we are just like Russian stacking dolls, one inside the other. I made them both!
Hannah is my middle daughter and my partner in our non-profit dog rescue, Last Bad Day. Henry has been inside an animal shelter more times in his short life than I can count. Barking dogs, he will no doubt recall one day as his earliest memory. Shelter dogs come and go in their house, just as they do in mine and Henry at the tender age of 20 months has learned so much from their presence in his life. He is quite unafraid of an enormous Pit Bull or a crazy, jumping puppy or a yappy Chihuahua. He is happy to share his snacks, his toys, nap times, his love and his mother with anyone who needs it. He knows to be gentle and kind, not to kick, or yell or pull hair and if he slips up, his mother will quickly remind him how to behave.
Parents these days, it seems, put so much emphasis on the physical strength of their children. It is a wonderful thing to see even toddlers participating in sports. Everyone knows, little bodies grow strong and healthy with fresh air and regular exercise. Soccer, judo, swimming, tennis, surfing, softball, ballet, little league, you name it, kids are doing it. These lifestyle habits learned early will hopefully ensure the well-being and good health of our children as they grow into adulthood.
An enormous amount of our money and time is being spent on preparing our children for life. Parents are determined that their kids grow up with physical skills and strong, healthy bodies. Schools, are hopefully sharing in all of this. The mental strength needed to secure that well paying job, own a business or change the world will be imparted by inspiring teachers and a well rounded curriculum.
So now your child is prepared to take on life, right? Maybe not.
What about emotional strength? Is this an aspect of our child's growth that needs to be taught and if so how does one teach this to a child? Maybe our love can protect them from everything? A delightful notion, but we know that's not true. Protecting our children emotionally by loving away problems does not help them stand up for themselves. Could it be that our children's emotional toughening up is being left to the school bullies, or perhaps life's knocks and disappointments will gradually strengthen them along the way? And what about all the other important traits that we want our children to embody? Empathy, responsibility, fairness, kindness - do those get taught at home or school or both?
What if there was a place where your child would be gently prepared to handle life's challenges. They could take lessons in beginnings and endings, sickness and health, kindness and cruelty, freedom and confinement, fear and courage, success and failure and even the hardest lesson of all, birth and death.
Parents would be lining up for miles to get their offspring into this school if it actually existed. But it does exist and surprisingly it is a home school course available right now for free and to every parent and child in this country. It is called fostering a shelter pet. Don't believe me? Then you need to try it just once and we can help you do that. Go to our Facebook page Last Bad Day and send us a message that you would like to help. There is no cost to you and the benefits to your family will be immeasurable.
So think about it, when you foster a shelter pet, you foster kindness. What in this world is more important to teach a child than that?
