To Mothers and Fathers

For my class I read some great counsel to mothers and fathers from President Ezra Taft Benson that I really feel is worth devoting a whole post to. There are 10 pieces of counsel each to mothers and to fathers, and it is exactly the counsel the I hope Rodolfo and I will follow when parenting our own children someday.

To mothers:

1. Be at the crossroads. - Be there when children are coming or going, whether it be to or from school, dates, or friends' houses.

2. Be a real friend to your children. - Regularly spend unrushed one-on-one time with each child.

3. Read to your children. - Starting from the cradle, read to your sons and daughters.

4. Pray with your children. - Family prayers, under the direction of the father, should be held morning and night.

5. Have weekly family home evenings. - With your husband presiding, participate in a spiritual and an uplifting home evening each week. Have you children actively involved. Teach them correct principles.

6. Be together at mealtimes. - "This is a challenge... but happy conversation, sharing of the day’s plans and activities, and special teaching moments occur at mealtime because mothers and fathers and children work at it."

7. Read Scriptures Daily as a family. - Individual scripture reading is important, but family scripture reading is vital.

8. Do things as a family. - Make family outings and picnics and birthday celebrations and trips special times and memory builders. Whenever possible, attend, as a family, events where one of the family members is involved, such as a school play, a ball game, a talk, a recital.

9. Teach your children.

10. Truly love your children, and make sure they know it.

To fathers:

1. Give father’s blessings to your children. Baptize and confirm your children. Ordain your sons to the priesthood.

2. Personally direct family prayers, daily scripture reading, and weekly family home evenings. - Your personal involvement will show your children how important these activities really are.

3. Whenever possible, attend Church meetings together as a family. - Family worship under your leadership is vital to your children’s spiritual welfare.

4. Go on daddy-daughter dates and father-and-sons’ outings with your children. - As a family, go on campouts and picnics, to ball games and recitals, to school programs, and so forth. Having Dad there makes all the difference.

5. Build traditions of family vacations and trips and outings. - These memories will never be forgotten by your children.

6. Have regular one-on-one visits with your children. - Let them talk about what they would like to. Teach them gospel principles. Teach them true values. Tell them you love them. Personal time with your children tells them where Dad puts his priorities.

7. Teach your children to work, and show them the value of working toward a worthy goal. - Establishing mission funds and education funds for your children shows them what Dad considers to be important.

8. Encourage good music and art and literature in your homes. - Homes that have a spirit of refinement and beauty will bless the lives of your children forever.

9. As distances allow, regularly attend the temple with your wife. - Your children will then better understand the importance of temple marriage and temple vows and the eternal family unit.

10. Have your children see your joy and satisfaction in service to the Church. - This can become contagious to them, so they, too, will want to serve in the Church and will love the kingdom.

Before I wrap this up, here are just a couple of more quotes directed at husbands and fathers:

Elder Packer: "Holders of the priesthood, in turn, must accommodate themselves to the needs and responsibilities of the wife and mother. Her physical and emotional and intellectual and cultural well-being and her spiritual development must stand first among his priesthood duties. There is no task, however menial, connected with the care of babies, the nurturing of children, or with the maintenance of the home that is not his [the husband's] equal obligation."

Elder Oaks:"Homemaking is not just baking bread or cleaning a house. Homemaking is to make the environment necessary to nurture our children toward eternal life, which is our responsibility as parents. In that, homemaking is as much for fathers as it is for mothers."