Some of Susanna Wesley's child-raising rules:
*Subdue self-will in a child.
*Teach him to pray as soon as he can speak.
*Give him nothing he cries for, and only what is good for him when he asks politely.
*Punish no fault confessed, but let no sinful act to go unnoticed.
*Reward good behavior.
*Strictly observe all promises you have made to your child.
There's other stuff like if you must cry, cry softly to avoid punishment; eat everything put in front of you; and learn the entire alphabet on your first day of lessons at age 5 (!?) but those 3 minutes of googling didn't yield the complete list in a convenient package, so since I am an American in this age of instant gratification, you'll just have to look up the rest for yourself. :P
6 comments:
Gads. Can you imagine what the Purgation will be for little Jacky when his mother finds out he founded Methodism? "...as through fire...." (I Cor. III) indeed.
The Priestman
Speaking of hard core PP-ers, I learned at story hour yesterday that Paul Revere had 16 kids. (Two wives, though. Eight apiece.)
Oh! I have long admired the great S. Wesley for her wise child-management advice. If only her sons hadn't tainted her good name. And her husband? Poor woman.
And as to P. Revere: It's always two wives, isn't it. At least two. *sigh*
"Punish no fault confessed"? Like, you should get off scott-free just because you admit you did it? I don't want to teach my kids that one!
Priestman: Veering slightly from the topic at hand--do you really have a tennis court in your backyard? Does that really work?
And are the worship wars so bad at your church that you need to build medieval weapons, or is that to deal with issues that arise in the local ministerium? :)
RM:
In order:
Yes. Swimmingly. The latter.
The Priestman
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