Our children
I get frustrated when I hear yet another reference to children being part of the 'future' of a country. This is, surely, not the basis of 'child rights'. No, no, no! They are part of the present! The purpose of their existence is not because of what they may be in the future but because of what they are now. They are not merely adults in the making a smaller version of ourselves. They are real people with their own fully justified needs and demands, at this very moment, and worthy of respect and consideration as part of society and the world today.
They do not exist because of what they can give to adults and certainly not so that their achievements should give their families something to boast about. They are an integral part of the network of human relationships across all ages, that should keep the adult world balanced and restrained because it is learning to focus on long-term aims and not just self-indulgence. If we look at our children as those who have a full part to play in the world as it is, then disciplining them and ourselves - becomes worthwhile, even normal, because, together, we are learning how to become the sort of people who deserve to have a future - and a world - and are thus people of hope.
Everyone who has anything to do with children will know, that, along with the trials and tribulations they can bring, they are not just takers but givers, not just a bag of needs (often expensive!) but a bundle of joy and comfort that is worth every penny of our investment in them. They can break our hearts but help us to have, and keep, hearts that are beating with the love of life.
We do not merely welcome them to our world but, together, we are called to learn what it means to be equal and responsible share-holders in the world so that they, in their turn, have a better world to pass on to their children.
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