I was listening to a podcast by Rob Bell recently that was discussing the origin of the word wisdom. If you don’t know Rob, he’s a favorite of mine–former megachurch pastor turned author, podcaster and all-round cool guy that I had a chance to hear speak earlier this year.
He pointed out that wisdom is a feminine word going back to the ancient traditions. Wisdom is personified as Athena, the Greek goddess of Wisdom, and Minerva, the Roman goddess of Wisdom. The word itself is feminine in all the languages that differentiate words as masculine or feminine (e.g. la sagesse in French). This totally makes sense to me. Women are wise! And we need to be to raise the next generation.
Although there are modern-day challenges new to our generation (iPad games designed for babies, cell phones, social media), there’s also a whole lot of parenting that remains unchanged. Things like consistency, expectations, and respect. In the arena of discipline, it is always easier to give your whiny kid a piece of candy to get in the car than to wait out their temper tantrum (and don’t get me wrong, there are moments when I think bribery is totally acceptable!), but I try to think for the long term on most days. And look deep within the well to find an extra sip of patience.
Which brings me back to Elephant Mamas. Where do you get your wisdom? How can we help each other in this community? I would love to bring wisdom to you in the form of experts (doctors? teachers? psychologists? spiritual leaders?) who can help all of us along this journey. Who would you like to hear from? What would you like to know? For me, I’ve been blessed to have my own mama nearby while I raised my children. I also benefited from a MOPs (Moms of Preschoolers) group that gave me weekly access to moms who had been-there, done-that already. I distinctly remember asking one of these mentor moms what I should do about my child who desperately wanted a Nintendo at the age of six. I was holding out, but she changed my mind when she explained how her home was the house where her kids’ friends wanted to hang out. They had the game system–and the best snacks–so she could get to know the kids rather than sending her own child off to some house she didn’t know.
But wisdom isn’t just about learning from the experts either. I’d love to interview individual Elephant Mamas too. Is there one area of this journey that you have nailed and want to share with the rest of us? Let me know! I was having issues with getting the Comments to appear on my last few posts, but I’m hoping I’ve fixed that. Post a Comment so I know its working– or email me at erikaparkerprice [at] gmail [dot] com. Thanks!
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