My friend, who was of a scientific bent (she had already dissected a cow’s eyeball at the kitchen table with her kids), was a fabulous salesman for this event.
“Diana, your kids will love this! It’s so cool to see things in person rather than just in pictures. Several homeschooling families will be there, it’s going to be GREAT!!”
And you know, one of my kids did love it. (That was the one who would one day do a stint as a hospital corpsman in the Navy.) He was spellbound as he stood close to the butcher, happily holding every thing handed to him, regardless of how gooey.
On the other hand, one of my kids hated it. (That was the one who would one day faint at the clinic when, as a college student, he was just trying to give blood.) He took one brief look at what was happening to that cow, and then fled to the safe haven of our car.
Though I hadn’t realized it so concretely until that moment, what is one person’s delight may be another person’s nightmare—and vice versa! We need to not only be aware of this, we need to honor these differences. Why? Because they were hardwired into our children by One who created them for His plans and purposes.
Allow for—and respect—the individuality of each one in your family. That means, in case you missed it, not every child has to dissect the eyeball of a cow. But then, not every child has to be kept at home when the cow is butchered. . . Pay attention to what is good for your individual kids. Relationally speaking, it’s the wisest thing you’ll ever do!