Power Parenting: How to Build Strong Kids with Passion, Patriotism, and Endless Potential
Ever since around 2020, everything seems more extreme. Politically charged tension, controversies, conspiracies, and, in general, widespread contention in our culture. The cherry on top has been the tangible push we’ve seen to draw our kids away from healthy, wholesome influences towards activist ideals and alternative lifestyles. These days, we moms have to sleep with one eye open as formerly trusted teachers, doctors, and online influencers have attempted to charm the hearts and minds of our young with deceptive ideologies and damaging beliefs.
I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’ve been on the defensive a lot since then, trying to guard and protect those I love from so much, including those who think it’s their place to usurp parental authority.
I’m done with it. Mamas, it’s time to take the lead once more and parent our kids powerfully – leaning into their potential with all that we’ve got. I’m ready for a little power parenting – how about you?
We know our children are gifts from God, filled with unique flair, strengths, aptitudes, and talents. With your intentionality, you can build strong kids who exude character qualities like passion, diligence, and patriotism – and so many other learned attributes that can empower their bright futures.
“Train Up a Child…”
You know that verse? “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6) There have been a lot of people who always thought that scripture was about discipline and a promise that your kids won’t turn from the way they were brought up. I’m no seminary grad, but I heard someone recently explain that “the way they should go,” actually refers to raising your kids with a keen eye on their natural bent or gifting. We are called to amplify what is their strength and passion. I thought that interpretation was interesting. Perhaps God is urging us to invest in things that may be key to our young ones’ future.
Help Them Pursue Passions
Many of us naturally gravitate toward helping our kids pursue their passions. If your son has a killer throwing arm, you may have spent countless hours at baseball practice, games, and batting cages. You may have season tickets for your city’s major league baseball team (if you have one). Your sacrifices for these opportunities could give your boy the potential to one day play as an adult, become a coach or athletic director, or pursue a career in sports medicine.
In our family, our eldest girl was obsessed with dogs since she was very young. We took trips to dog shows and agility exhibitions, and we had season passes to the zoo. We spent time with and around animals because that’s where her heart seemed to soar. We didn’t know if she’d pursue veterinary medicine, decide to train dogs, or what. We just knew that she’d probably not stray far from animals. She ended up with an anthrozoology degree, earned her master’s degree in a similar field, and now works with dogs and students at a major university, thriving as we always hoped she would.
It could turn out to be a real power move to consider now the possibilities in what your kids seem drawn to when they are young. As they explore and enjoy, they may discover a future calling.
Making School Great Again
The next element that has to be in place is an academic underpinning for those passions and bents. Strength in math, communication, reading, and science can help make those dreams come true. We would hope that schools could be trusted to take care of that part, but sadly, many simply aren’t measuring up. I mentioned in a previous blog (the one about kids leaving the classroom to protest – insert eyeroll here) that students’ testing in 2024 revealed that graduating seniors had 22% proficiency in math and 35% in reading.
That is not to say your school isn’t good. You must be the judge of that. And you have every right to. Power parenting is a mom holding teachers and administrators accountable, both for the school’s performance and test scores, and for what is being taught in the classroom. My daughter’s American History class began with the Civil War. As if America’s earliest days, the first voyages to our shores, the Revolutionary War, and the Declaration of Independence weren’t worth classtime. You better believe I said something.
You aren’t bound by their rules. For my family, all three of my girls went to public school; however, we often talked about what was being taught – and while every slanted lesson didn’t rise to the level of a formal complaint, we discussed these concepts as a family. We told stories about America and presented different sides of an issue. (What the school is supposed to do. Ah, well.)
You also aren’t bound to public schooling. You have options. Among them: charter schools, private schools (if you have the $$), and homeschooling, which, especially since 2020, has taken America by storm. If you’re considering this option, there are more resources and ways to make it happen for your family than ever before. And let’s face it – so very often – kids from homeschools are advanced in their academics and shielded from rampant ideologies preached by educators with religious fervor. Don’t want your child encouraged to explore their gender or bow to CRT? Homeschooling may be for you. And, here at Moms for America, you are in good company. We have materials to share, guidance, and encouragement from other moms who have chosen this option. We’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating: We think it’s the ultimate power play in education.
Don’t Cower – Confront
We used to think we could cover our kids’ eyes and protect them from things that don’t align with our values. When my kids were little, we stayed away from certain TV shows and dodged violent video games. Now, though, the young are digital natives. They are a generation that has never been without the world at their fingertips via smartphones or tablets. It’s good to put off using electronic gadgets for as long as possible – but ultimately, much of the future will be tied to the Internet and digital life. Don’t even get me started on AI.
Even if you’re a young mom, the changes are coming fast and relentlessly, so instead of spending your life hiding from the challenges, you can exert your mom-power and confront them.
You can speak up in a school board meeting and let your town’s library know that children don’t need pornographic resources. You can become active in your town’s political scene or serve in city government. That’s bold. But, even if you’re not ready to slap your name on a yard sign, you can still confront the challenges your kids face in powerful and effective ways.
In fact, what you do for your own family in this arena is critical. With consideration of what is age-appropriate, talk with your kids about the things they encounter in the world now, and in the world they will grow into – and someday lead.
Instead of just hiding from the activist class or dodging a downtown drag show (though of course we don’t purposefully expose our kiddos to that sort of deviance), your kids need to understand your perspective. Not caveman style, “THAT BAD!,” but with meaningful conversations about why gender matters and the challenges that it brings to the individual who chooses a transgendered lifestyle, and the impact it has on society, like the very real problems caused by biological men in women’s sports. Open, honest, timely conversations with your kids about culture, politics, and the news is a power move that dispels the ignorance that can rob your children of the moral foundation you’ve built for them.
Raising Patriots
Living your love for country with your kids can instill the strength and resolve of our American spirit in their hearts from a young age. Your children will carry the torch for liberty if you train them from their earliest years to appreciate what it means to be citizens of this great land.
You are probably already doing things to encourage patriotic fervor in your family. It’s about incorporating national pride into everyday life, like telling the stories of our nation around the dinner table (especially the ones conveniently left out of the classroom). It’s having the kids decorate for Fourth of July celebrations and going to the fireworks. Watching patriotic movies and, as a family, praying for our President and other leaders in Washington DC, while not forgetting to pray for your city as well.
Visit America’s patriotic sites together to make life-long memories as you touch and experience the places where our storied history unfolded. You may have access to nearby historic battlefields, and you can explain to your kids who fought and died for freedom on that hallowed ground. Or you might visit Historic Williamsburg in Virginia, the Freedom Trail in Boston, Pearl Harbor in Hawaii – or, my personal favorite, the Smithsonian.
The Ultimate Power Source
Without question, the ultimate power move is raising your kids to know and love God. He is the reason America exists. Anyone who knows the strength, peace, and power of an intimate relationship with Jesus is equipped for anything that comes.
Finding a good church to attend together is a start, but there’s so much more to the Christian life. It’s not so much about rules, good deeds, or stickers on a chart. A relationship with the One who made you, your child, and the entire universe is the ultimate gift. And, in a mic drop moment, He promised He’d never leave us. Not that things won’t get hard – or really, really messy sometimes, but He won’t abandon us. I can’t think of anything more powerful in the challenging culture we face with our kids.
So, church is great, praying together is vital, and getting rooted and grounded in the Bible takes things to another level. Even doing all the “right” things doesn’t guarantee your young adults won’t stray, but it’s the greatest gift you can offer them – and yourself.
As moms, we are done shrinking back from a culture that too often threatens our families. We are the ones who hold the most intimate knowledge of the truly exceptional children we’ve been entrusted to raise. We are their advocates. We are their teachers – we are the shoulder they can cry on and their biggest fans. American moms have the power to help this generation navigate a culture that isn’t always pretty. And we have the power to raise up patriotic young leaders who will shape America’s future.
Podcast Note: Just in time for Spring Break, we sat down with Carrie Pasquarello, CEO of Global Secure Resources. She shared smart, practical ideas for anyone planning upcoming travel – along with simple ways to keep your vacation safe, smooth, and fun.
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