Let Them Eat Cake!

E is for eat.

There are many days when as mothers we have to be the disciplinarians, the go-to lady, and the “no” parent. We’re tough on homework, chores and making good choices. It’s our job. We teach our kids the everyday skills of personal hygiene (which is not always easy as they grow and don’t know they stink!), how to boil water, do the laundry and clean their toilet. And we hope that someday they’ll be ready for college.

But our biggest job is one we don’t speak enough about…getting our children to heaven.

In today’s society that is not an easy task. There are too many distractions, too many drugs, and not enough role models. So what is a mother to do?
I believe it is paramount to find everyday people in our lives that exhibit the types of behaviors we want our children to emulate and hold them up for our children. We need to encourage our kids to think for themselves and reward them when they make tough but good choices. But there’s something even more critical to this whole equation. We need to be good examples ourselves.

Sure, that includes refraining from the occasional cuss word when a driver cuts us off. But it also includes lazy or potentially harmful behaviors including watching too much TV, talking too much on the phone or even gossiping around other friends.
I believe that kids know the score. They will pick up whatever we do and incorporate it into their own lives. Have you ever heard your child repeat something you previously said?

Help yourself by surrounding yourself with friends who are good examples and ask them to hold you to a higher standard too. You might be surprised to find out that others feel the same way you do.

So what does this have to do with “eat” or our letter for this post?

I once heard a little boy ask his mom if there was birthday cake in Heaven. She replied, “Of course! They eat it every day!”

“Sweet!” was his only reply.

And then I thought about it. Why shouldn’t there be cake in heaven?

Now my new mantra includes fighting for my children’s souls and a frivolous statement taken from Marie Antoinette, “Let them eat cake,” because in the end I want my children to be able to eat cake every day!