Taking Out the Trash

One of our guiding principles of schooling our children from home is to "educate the whole child." Our hope is that during their elementary and middle school years we can create within our kids a strong understanding of who they are and who they can become - so that by the time they reach high school and enter the public system, they are more solid among their peers and not "tossed about by every wind of doctrine." We want them to know that their identity is centered in the divine nature of their soul and not in academia or popularity.  

Tonight, my husband and I discussed a couple of principles that we feel will help them more holistically.  But before we had this discussion, let me rewind to this afternoon:

While I was looking through old photo albums with my daughter, I had an interesting experience... flashbacks began to stir up more than memories for me and it wasn’t pretty. Now, I love looking at old pictures of family but I was surprised that as I viewed ones with me, insecure voices from the past began to creep in, mean voices.  I began to focus on every ugly flaw and I was beginning to feel really depressed about myself.  "That's crap." I thought, "How do I get this garbage out of my head? Where is this coming from?" I knew these thoughts well.  They were the old lies I had heard a million times growing up.

Later, after our kids went to bed, my husband and I discussed what we could do to strengthen our children.  I thought of my experience with the photo album and said, "You know what?... If I could go back in time and visit myself as a child, I'd teach her how to take out the trash and treasure the truth.  I had a horrible habit of tearing myself down when I was young and it still occasionally haunts me today."

"I like that idea," he said "let's expound upon it."

"Well, I'd like to see our kids learn to take out the trash in all aspects of their lives: physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally."

"Great!" my husband agreed.  "How would this look?"

We began to list some ideas for each one and this is what we came up with:

"Taking Out the Trash"

• Physically - throw away clutter in their rooms and avoiding too much junk food in their diet 
• Mentally - toss out movies, music, pictures, books, and media that is filthy or corrodes
• Emotionally - get rid of negative self-talk, comparing themselves to others, anxiety - fear, cynicism, and gossip the minute it begins to emerge
• Spiritually - toss out anything that drives away the Holy Ghost or limits the channels of revelation

"Treasuring the Truth"

• Physically - holding on to things that have lasting value, that are meaningful and useful.  making a habit of eating that will benefit the body and help it stay strong
• Mentally - "Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom" (D&C 88:118) Seek to watch, view, read, and listen to that which will inspire them to be their best selves. Educate their minds.
• Emotionally - speak positively of themselves with a Godly confidence and focus on the good in others, practice showing and expressing gratitude
• Spiritually - actively invite and seek to be around and involved in things that bring a greater measure of the Spirit- especially personal prayer, scripture study, and words of the living prophets

We feel like we’ve constructed a productive plan and are excited to introduce it to our children.  We even found an old Mormonad that is perfect for our education initiative.  We’re going to make some copies of this and place one on each door to serve as a reminder.  Hopefully, we can all do a little better at “taking out the trash” and “treasuring the truth” especially me.  

-Alicia