Dig Deep Mama: Stay in Your Family Lane

She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. Proverbs 31:25 NIV

Peer pressure isn’t for kids alone. We parents feel it, too. 

When we moved to the Philadelphia area in 2002, David and Aaron were 9 and 7. I’d help out in the schools a bit and found the mothers anxious about getting their kids’ homework done. Literally telling me they were anxious about getting lil’ Zen’s science project done. (Confirmed by Parents’ Nights when Cam and I would walk around the schools and see our sons’ projects pale in comparison to the other kids’ work, clearly done, or at least strongly aided by, their parents.)

Another example: One mother actually tried to get me to hold back one son of mine, since my boys started school earlier in Canada. She reasoned: my son “should” actually now be in her son’s grade (and with her son, which she would have preferred since her son didn’t have a brother like mine did, and I should fix this for her–not kidding).

And we feel it don’t we? And still, here’s the dig-deep tip:

Tip: Stay in your family lane

Pay attention to what your family needs. Pay attention to what each of your children needs.

If your friends are all putting their kids in school,  but you sincerely believe/feel that what’s best for your child, your family, is to keep them home, do your thing. Keep them home. Stay in your family lane—unless you’re super rigid, and be honest about that. Are you like, “I will not bend no matter what!” out of fear, control, stubbornness?

Look at what others are doing, listen and learn. Pray for strength to make a good and fitting decision for your family. And do that.

Shake off the peer pressure to conform to everyone else’s lanes and demands. Stay strong and carry on.

Dig Deep Mama! You got this.