Temper is a good thing.

I like to think I have a unique perspective, but I'm probably fooling myself there.  I do get to see a myriad of kids in a number of different arenas.  I've had the privilege of seeing many young kids try to adapt to the harshness of things such as football, band camp in August, and Boy Scout Summer camps.  I can tell you that most kids in today's society are not ready for these things. Most kids have Mommies that baby them.  Why in God's name would you peel your thirteen year old Son's chicken nuggets?  Has your child spent more than an hour in 90 degree plus weather? Can your kid dress himself?  And for crying out loud, is your child smart enough to get out of the rain?  These may sound like dumb questions but the problem is they are not being answered.  I am all about giving my Sons a better start in life than me, but at some point you have to let them learn the harsh lessons of life.

In the plant world it is known as "hardening off".  A seedling is raised indoors.  Then when it gets close to being big enough to go out into the garden, the seedling must undergo a process of hardening off.  Basically, you are going to expose the seedling to the harshness of the sun little by little.  A couple hours at first, then in a couple of days it can stand up to the sun all day and is ready to be put out in the garden.  If you take a seedling straight from the green house to the field it will wilt and die the first day.  In the world of metal the process is called "tempering".  In order for steel to stand the test of time it must be heated up to near the melting point and quickly cooled off several times.  If steel is not hardened or tempered it will be very brittle and fall apart over time.  Any two idiots with the right anatomical parts can make a kid.  The question is are you self aware enough to raise a kid who can stand on his own?  Your child needs to be tempered and hardened at as young an age as you think you can start doing so.  The best time to start your kid eating green things is when he is a baby.  Yes the preparing of your child for adulthood starts when he is an infant.  The best time to start hardening your child to the hot summer days is when he is old enough to run. That's usually in between a year and a half and two.  Yes preparing your child for adulthood starts when he is a toddler.  The best time to teach your child about clothing for the day is when he is old enough to go to school.  Yes, preparing for adulthood starts in kindergarten.  I think you are starting to see my pattern here.

I am fully aware of all the joys of having your baby act like a baby.  But, time is a fleeting thing and soon and very soon you will turn your baby loose on the world.  The time to stop babying your child is now.  If you think the time to learn the lessons of adulthood is when your kid turns 18, you've set your child up for a massive and devastating failure.  Tempering takes time and time is something you can't get at Walmart.  Take your kid outside today, make him eat something new today, show him how to wash clothes today, and most of all teach him how to be his own person today.  As a parent, letting go is the hardest thing, but it is the best thing for your child.  You have a simple choice everyday, either prepare your kid for adulthood or be selfish and not prepare him.

Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.