Baby Mozart and Life Preparation

Creative Ministry by Henri Nouwen
CHAPTER 1: “Teaching”

“If teaching means providing man with enough academic weapons to outdo his fellow man, to make more money, to have a better career, and more esteem in his neighborhood, we had better start asking ourselves if there is any word from God that supports this approach” (3).

Being a mom in this day and age is hard. It’s probably been hard since time began, each generation having their own societal challenges and expectations to either succumb to or overcome. A current hurdle: too much information. Science attempts to quantify and qualify all elements of what leads to the ‘ultimate parenting machine’: are you stimulating your child 24 hours a day? Is it the proper and edifying stimulation? Are they involved in enough activities? Playgroups? Mommy-and-me yoga classes? Are you listening to Baby Mozart while playing with Lamaze stacking blocks and Leap Frog animated books? Are you talking to your child while changing their diaper so they can start to grasp pronouns and objects?

This type of ‘helpful parenting’ suggestions makes me inadequate and weary. I feel like it is solely my responsibility to adequately prepare Munchkin for the Big Bad World. What’s bothersome is not trying to manage the abundance of activities and hints that are suggested as much as the threat of what will happen if they aren’t followed. My child could be destined to live a life of mediocrity and insecurity due to an inadequate amount of infant massages. When should I send him to therapy because I let him cry in his crib for five minutes past the recommended time?

The other unspoken fact lies in the competitive spirit that has made this country ‘great’: if you don’t do it, someone else will. All parents have access to this information: it’s the *good* parents who best put it fully into practice. It’s not so much about making Munchkin a whole and happy person as it is equipping him to compete with his peers. By teaching mastering the ABCs in his toddler years, he’ll advance farther and faster in school, boosting his self-esteem and confidence which buoys him into a competitive college and masters program, helping him to land that ultimate job which gives him a profound sense of self-worth and a meaningful life experience. If he doesn’‘t, his classmates will excel beyond him, dooming him to a life of flipping burgers and resenting his parents for not properly equipping him to do battle in the real world.

The type of thinking makes sense in a petty, small-minded, insecure world. What if Munchkin’s peers were not competitors, but fellow journeyers? What if the most important thing to be learned is how to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and to love your neighbor as yourself? What if the prime directive is not to land the perfect job and the perfect life, but rather to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God? How can these ‘helpful parenting tips’ work into that larger picture? Gives a different approach to teaching, don’t you think?