Living in NZ means we don't have the great art exhibits that you might find in Europe or the US. But at the moment in Wellington there is an exhibition that is well worth the visit.
The kids and I took the day off yesterday and headed down. And what an amazing experience - to see the original paintings, rather than simply looking at a photo in a book which is what we usually do. I made up my mind to seize the opportunity and am so glad we did. On the way we collected my mum and had a great day with her as well.
The collection is from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. There are mainly paintings from Monet, plus others who influenced him. A collection like this has not been seen in NZ and is unlikely to be seen here again. The range of colours, the brushstrokes, the amazing ornate frames - all left a lasting "impression" on us.
If you live in NZ and have the remotest chance of getting to Wgtn before mid-May when it finishes, DO!
Here is a list of some of the books I have read over the last year, sorry I cannot remember all the authors names, they were library books and I haven't got time to look them all up.
Real Food
150 Healthiest Foods on Earth
Cholesterol and the French Paradox
Nourishing Traditions
We want Real Food
Fast Food Nation
Eat Fat, Lose Fat
Cancer: Cause and Cure
Plus I have studied extensively the "WholeFoods Course" I purchased online.
Notice the Theme?
I have been trying to make changes in our diet, in order to become more healthy and avoid the seemingly inevitable problems that seem to strike as aging occurs. I am starting to realise though, that what has always been promoted as "Healthy Eating", isn't actually healthy. We have been sold some very dangerous lies from people with less than honourable motives. For instance, the whole "Eat Fat, Get Fat" mantra was based on one study in the fifties and has been misproven so many times it is ridiculous how it is still preached.
Slowly but surely we have been making changes, we still have a long way to go, but when I consider what our family was eating a year or two back, it really doesn't compare to how we eat now.
My husband commented the other day how it had become an interest of mine to study these books and try to implement them, and its true, I am finding it incredibly interesting and stimulating.
Here are some of the changes we have implemented so far:
Switched exclusively to raw milk (finding this was a real answer to prayer)
Switched to free-range eggs (finding an economical source was another answer to prayer)
Only use un-refined sea salt, not the white processed stuff
Gone back to saturated fats - butter for baking and spread, lard or dripping for roasting and frying
Eating a good amount of fat with meals, loving the luxury of eating good amount of butter and cream without guilt
Use only homemade stock, not the stock powder I used to use to flavour everything
The Next Changes I would like to Make:
Investigate soaking grains and sprouting
Sorting out breakfasts, getting used to healthier options
Figuring out how to make our own yoghurt - no luck so far!!
Buy a dehydrator to make soaked grain snacks, muesli and nuts.
I guess the changes can be summed up by saying we are going back about a century, to how our great-grandmothers cooked before all the processed muck entered our supermarkets. We eat very "old-fashionedly", like people did before heart disease, cancer and diabetes became prevalent. But the food we eat is full of nutrition, and hasn't had all the goodness taken out of it by modern technology.
Here's a hotch-potch of ways we use leftovers in our home. One of my aims is to throw nothing away. I am not quite there yet - but making progress!!
Many meals such as pasta or quiche become lunches for my husband or oldest son, sometimes I try to deliberately make heaps so we can freeze a few meals for them to reheat at work.
Bread - use as french toast, as 'mousetraps', or leave in just-turned-off oven overnight to dry out and make breadcrumbs in food processor.
Rice/Potato - use as lunch next day, fry onions in butter, add rice or potato and whatever else is around, heat through until browned.
- rice is great for breakfast the next day, heated through with milk or cream and dried fruit.
Casseroles - in squares of flaky pastry as 'turnovers'
- mix with baked beans, chilli beans or lentils and tomatoes and reheat, serve on toast or rice
- yummy in toasted sandwiches
Meat - chop sausages and add to baked beans
- chop bacon into small pieces and freeze for use in muffins, savouries etc
- chicken - add to risotto or fried rice, mix with leftover stuffing and gravy and use as turnover filling
- make butter chicken - stirfry veges, remove from pan, add 2 tins indian tomatoes and reduce down, return veges and chicken to pan, add cream and big knob of butter, serve on rice
- layer meat with potatoes, fried onions and cheese in flat dish, pour over cream and extra cheese, bake in slow oven for 1 1/2 hours
Gravies - freeze and use in soups
Veges - heat and mix couple of eggs through for 'scramble'.
Save every scrap of food, I usually put them in plastic container until frozen, then turn out into big zip lock bag that just sits in the freezer. If this bag starts to overflow, remove contents and heat together. If thick serve on toast, rice or mashed potatoes, if thin serve as soup. This will be a unique - never to be repeated - FREE meal.
Well, it has begun - our new academic year!! As usual I didn't get all the planning and organising done that I had intended. I was feeling a bit down about it, and had a chat on the phone to a friend. She had done the opposite - planned adequately and had everything mapped out. She said it only set her up for failure!!
When I look back on my homeschooling 'career', it seems to be a constant swing between the 'academic attack', when we try to get serious and determined, usually becoming miserable, and a very slack 'take it as it comes' approach. Where is the elusive balance? I certainly haven't found it.
Son number one is settling in to his carpentry course. He is enjoying being part of a large institution. "Mum, it is so cool - so many people go there!!" I am not sure he enjoys the red-tape of the regulations and safety protocols he has been covering so far. And he has had to actually take tests! Nothing like a new experience to challenge him. He certainly is keen and motivated though. He is normally a late riser, but has been up and about and out the door to be there at 8a.m. Makes his lunch the evening before. Apparently he is one of the first to arrive. Hopefully that lasts.
His schedule is Mon-Wed 8-5 at the class, half time doing theory and half in the workshop. As a group they will build two houses through the year. On Thurs he will work for a builder in the city, and Fri and Sat he will be at the hardware store at his usual job.
I am relieved to have him pursue this. He is the sort of person who is self-motivated and this suits him down to the ground.
The rest of us - thats another story. I have every intention of posting more often, we will see!!
Well, Christmas is over for another year and New Year has come and gone. We have a summer break at the moment and will probably begin homeschooling once more beginning of Feb.
So its time to turn my heart and thoughts to a new year of academics. These are some thoughts I have at the moment of my intentions.
Keep to the basics - ensure the foundations or reading, writing and maths are good and strong.
Study skills - put the emphasis on How to learn, rather than What to learn.
Common everyday skills such as form filling, typing.
Spiritual - might look at the major doctrines of the bible.
Relationships first, having fun together.
Thats about the extent of my planning so far. No doubt I will become more organised over the next few weeks.
And our MAJOR CHANGE for the year - for the first time since beginning homeschooling our numbers are going down!!
Son number one is off to "UCOL" (stands for Universal College of Learning), which is our local tertiary institution. He has wanted to do building for the past few years and he is doing a year long 'pre-apprenticeship' course.
It looks really good. He has the sort of personality to really 'go for it' if it means something to him. It has been hard motivating him at home academically, like pushing a bus uphill, unless he feels it is of some benefit. Yet if he is interested in something he just goes for it - such as his wargame hobby and lately his fly-fishing. So he will do well I think. The course is Mon-Thurs 8-4.30, half day in class and half day in workshop. Two weeks of this and two weeks on a building site, alternating. A real hands on course which will suit him well. We have met some of the tutors and they are incredibly supportive, and have plans in place to make sure everyone is supported and they provide extra academic tutoring if necessary. He plans to work Fridays and Saturday in his current job. When the course is finished he will have about 75% of the theory towards a building apprenticeship. And even if he doesn't do an apprenticeship the skills he learns will be invaluable in life anyway.
It has been so good to see him 'own his education', to save up to pay for it and have the determination to not get a student loan.
So he is excited, we are excited for him. A little nervous about how he will cope having never been part of an 'institution' before, a little relieved that I won't have to plan academically for him, and a little sad that this stage is upon us so quick - he is just 16. And most of all there is an overwhelming sense of grace, that in God's strength, somehow, we didn't give up homeschooling, but were kept on the path we started.
I used to do a reasonable amount of sewing, but haven't for a number of years. My machine was getting old and just trying to get it to behave was so frustrating it just wasn't a pleasure.
So it was a bit strange for me to start feeling the 'sewing urge' recently. And when I saw our local fabric store had half price on all goods for the month of January the urge got really big. I discussed a new machine with my husband and started researching. He wasn't too sure about a new machine considering I hadn't used the old one for so long, and suggested getting it fixed up. So thats what I did, took it to a lovely man just around the corner and had it completely overhauled. Cost a fraction of the price of a new machine. And the lovely man said it was a great machine and more reliable than some of the more modern varieties.
So we are into it. Today the boys were all out and my daughter and I made ourselves an apron each - cost of material $4 each, with lots of leftovers. I have some material for two skirts as well - about $8 each, I have been looking online and found how to make a pattern for a six gore skirt so will probably make one up like that and see how it goes.
I am hoping to find a bit of success and learn some new dressmaking techniques, being conscious of the fact that I will not always have my children around so a few productive hobbies will be useful in the future.
Best bit though - is Mum/daughter time, of course. And seeing my daughter have fun being creative.
This is a piece my 15 year old son handed me this morning. I don't do a lot of writing with the children, it is not an area I am comfortable with teaching. But I have been asking him to give me a piece about a page long each two weeks in varying formats. He hasn't yet fixed up his spelling and punctuation errors, but I think he did a good job for a reluctant writer.
1666
Alas, the sky is lit with flames. Smoke lingers in my nostrils, leaving a foul taste on my tongue. The horizon is hazy, hidden by thick cloud blackened because of the ash. London is burning. Babes cry, the faint sound of water sloshing in buckets echoes around my room. Across the river buildings are being ravaged by a ferocious fire. The wind blows the smoke across to us, billowing up into huge clouds reflecting the hellish atmosphere below them.
Our city is being destroyed. It’s peoples are in pandemonium, many are left homeless carrying their most valued possessions on their backs. Many cripples didn’t make it from the flames, as they fell over and got crushed by the ensuing crowds, those who survived the stampede certainly did not survive the flames.
Is this the judgment of God? First we are plundered by the plague, two hundred thousand dead. Now this great fire is leaving our city in ashes. Now London bridge is alight, it’s timbers buried in fire fall into the water. Not even our grand river can stop this frenzy. Wardens and able-bodied civilians rush to and fro with water buckets to try and suppress the fire. It looks as though their efforts are in vain as the flames roar with great anger.The wind blows burning embers into the air spreading the fire further, setting off smaller fires which will soon add to the raging monster full of wrath.
Will this hell end?
A few days later…
The fire has left.
Its mark has not.
Smoke still lingers, it blows with the wind against my face and its scent catches in my hair. Our once fine city is nothing but ashes. London, once capitol of the world now left in destruction. It will take many years to rebuild our city to a shade of it’s former glory. The rich are mixed in with the poor, nothing distinguishes them from each other. For all have been made poor, our only possession is poverty. Our grand buildings have been razed to the ground. The stench of burnt animals caught by the flames is the dominant smell, and it is repulsive. It has caused the contents of my stomach to leave through the doorway of my mouth.
From one small ember, to a raging fire. From a grand city now nothing but ashes. Once center of the world, now no more important than the soil upon it once stood. Once England’s glory, now a mere tragedy.
It seemed like a good idea at the time - back in January. When the local night school was taking bookings for the year, I thought it would be good to sign up for the watercolours class. Back then I was getting into drawing a bit and wanted to expand my horizons. The July start date was a long way off. But as July approached I felt less and less inspired. Going to a class with a group of strangers is a long way out of my comfort zone.
Well the start rolled around and guess what? Everyone was in the same boat, we are all out of our comfort zone, few people already knew each other. And there are enough extroverts in the group to keep the introverts comfortable. There is also a wide range of talent - from the woman who does a lot of oil paintings wanting to try watercolours, through those of us who have dabbled a bit with drawing, to the woman who got kicked out of art class in high school because she couldn't draw an elephant for a 'Welcome to India' poster.
I am really enjoying the class. It is nice to leave the house each Tuesday evening to do something creative. The colours are wonderful, so delicate and unpredictable. It is fun to see the white page being transformed. I don't know what anyone else thinks of my artwork, and I can honestly say I don't care. There is something refreshing about the colours, and adding a touch of beauty to life. I have got the basic paints and papers and brushes etc now, so its up to me how I go about learning and developing.
It is interesting that few in the class had done art classes at school. (Most of the class would be 40-50). Back then, there were those who were arty and those that weren't. No one said that any one can learn some basic drawing techniques, and have a bit of fun with colour and materials. There are some in the class who remember looking into the art class room in wonder and wishing they could enter that magical place, where only the few could go. Isn't it sad that we had to wait until we were middle aged until we could develop that side of ourselves.
Maybe thats the important thing I can gain from the class, and pass on to my children. To not say that we are too old to learn something. To try it anyway and enjoy the process. To let them explore the world they may be interested in - whether art or music or sport - and not give them the message that it is too hard and mysterious.
I hope it doesn't sound like I am so unconfident that I need to be constantly justifying myself, that is possibly what I am. Maybe it is just that I like the odd bit of encouragement every now and again that we are on the right track after all.
But anyway, I had a chance last weekend to catch up with some friends of my children, who are the children of our good friends. These teenagers were homeschooled until high school, when they went to public school with great delight and enthusiasm. So they have had experience both within and without 'the system'. Because of the excellent homeschool education their relaxed mother gave them, and the way their family communicates together, they are able to think objectively and not just 'swim with the flow'. They have now been at school for 6 months, and two and a half years.
Here's some comments, quoted as best as I can remember:
"About seventy percent of what we do at school is no use in real life".
"There is so much time wasting and time filling."
"I have had it with school."
"When we read a book, we only read it to answer the questions, not to get anything out of the book itself."
Justification - and encouragement!! What more do I need.
Half my family - my husband and two older sons have been involved in a tournament this weekend for their hobby - "Flames of War." The build up has been quite intense, they had to write 'histories', organise lists, collect their armies together, and make up and paint the extra models they needed. I am hoping that once this weekend is over they will settle down a bit and get back into a normal life routine -whatever that is!
Despite my feelings that this takes over the family a bit, and the garage is dominated by their war games table and associated modelling paraphenalia, I have to admit that it has been good for my sons to have a hobby like this.
It is a creative outlet for them, they do an amazing job with modelling, painting both the armies, and the terrain they make up also. They have to plan how they go about it, have the right equipment, and they critique their own work and each others honestly. They often check the FOW website and interact with others who have the same hobby and learn tips and tricks and techniques.
There is a certain amount of writing involved. My second son struggles majorly with writing, this is a way for him to hone his skills in a way that is applicable and meaningful. He contributes on the FOW forum, and had to write a history for his army for the tournament which challenged him but wasn't burdensome.
It is an outlet for their 'maleness' - we don't live on a farm or have a lot of scope for many masculine activities, this is a way of doing something boyish. And it is a shared interest with their Dad, a side of life that I cannot provide but he does well. They share a love of WW2 history, my husband has had a lifelong interest in WW2, and our sons have caught that as well. There is no fantasy involved, it is all historical.
They have to use a good amount of strategy and research - gotta be good for those thinking skills.
They have used it as a way to generate a bit of income to support their hobby. They paint models and sell them at a profit. They have reached a stage now where there is little more income required, they simply sell off what they decide they don't need and use that money to buy their new armies.
My husband has cunningly involved my daughter as well. She loves messy crafty stuff and helps a bit, with the models and particularly the terrain.
This is a way of mingling with people in the community. They are involved in the local club, and are interacting with others with a common interest. This has been a good confidence builder particularly for my less outgoing second son.
The tournament finishes today, it will be interesting to hear how they got on.
Me - Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
Real Food by Nina Planck
12 steps for the recovering Pharisee - like me by John Fischer
12 Ordinary Men by John McArthur
Home Educating with confidence by Rick Boyer
Son 1 - The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis
Exploring the World of HIstory by John Tiner
A couple of library books about orca whales
Son 2 - a couple of Ralph Moody books
Rifles for Watie
Mountain Valor
Son 3 - Henry Huggins
A few 'My Story' books
Books from 'the Caroline years' and the 'Martha Years'
Daughter - Goodnight Mr Tom
Tirzah
Stories from Grandmas Attic
'the Caroline years' and "martha years' books
Read-Alouds
The thinking toolbox (couple chapters/week)
The mystery of the periodic table
The twenty-one balloons
Amos Fortune, Free Man
If my hair suddenly starts to go even greyer than it is you will know it is because we have reached a new stage for the first time - DRIVING!!
At a time when everyone is concerned about the planet and global warming and encouraging the use of public transport and all that - we have increased our familys fleet to two. Thats not counting my husbands work van.
Son number one has saved enough money to buy a second hand vehicle that he can learn to drive in. Our family vehicle is automatic and he wanted to learn in a vehicle with a manual gearbox.
Lesson one was yesterday. Several stallings, kangaroo hops, anxious nerves (both him and me!), but we survived. He has realised that it is not going to come naturally, and will take some time to get used to, he was a bit over-confident before I think. I am looking forward to the weekend, when the teaching will fall to his Dad. I drove manuals for years, but have only driven the automatic for the last few years, and it is going to be different having to switch between both sorts.
I think we are in for an interesting "ride" - should be fun!!!
Imagine a world where there are only one or two TV channels, when if there is a programme you want to watch and you happen to be out - tough, you missed it!! Whats more, TV is only on for a few hours a day, certainly not in the morning or overnight. Imagine the only movies you can watch are at the theatre, and then there is a choice of only one.
Imagine a teenager going out, or away, and the parents having no way of contacting him. And if he wants to contact his parents he needs to find a phone booth and have the correct change. For that matter, imagine a teenager going away with his family and still not having daily contact with his friends.
Imagine actually having to go to a bank to get some money if you need to buy something. If you don't have the money in your wallet - you don't buy the goods. If you spot something in an overseas magazine you need to get a money order and post it off, and wait for its arrival weeks or months later.
Imagine being only able to shop on weekdays with a late night Friday. No Saturday or Sunday trading.
Imagine having a question you want to research. You have to wait until you get to the library, then you have to flick through a pile of file cards to find the number or title of book that may possibly have the information in it.
Imagine having a foreign penpal, actually writing a letter with pen and paper, posting it then having to wait weeks for a reply.
Imagine your friends and confidants, your support network, being only people that you have actually physically met and talked to.
As we head into winter one of our family favourites comes into its own. Soup. We all love it, especially the real thick, hearty soups made with bones, either chicken or beef.
One evening I was with some friends and they were all commenting on how many men did not like soup, including their husbands. I was amazed considering how our family drools over it. When I discussed it with my husband he said it was probably because they hadn't had the thick meaty soup we eat. Honestly, it would be hard to think of a more nutritious cooked meal to feed a family, and it is economical as well.
When I get my bones on the stove boiling away, my teenage boys moan and groan that I am torturing them. I get the bones boiling the day before we actually eat it and the house smells so amazingly good, but they can't eat the soup until the following day. Torture to hungry teenagers.
Here's a bit of a run down of my soup making method. Its not a recipe, because it is different each time.
For chicken soup, buy frame or necks, these are cheap, place them in a big pot with whatever leftover chicken bones are in the freezer, add lots of celery leaves, some garlic cloves, couple of onions and carrots - don't worry about peeling. Throw in some parsley, bayleaves, peppercorns, a splash of vinegar. Keep on low boil for most of the day.
Next day ( this is the worst bit) strain stock out, pick over bones and save meat. I usually save 2 litres to freeze for another time. Discard bones and veges, unless you want to briefly boil for a second 'extraction'. Add chopped vegetables, lots of them, I usually use about 4 onions, several celery sticks, 5 or 6 carrots, a couple of kumara, and my husband loves potato in soup, so 4 or 5 of them. I have got a big soup pot though. Add brown rice or lentils if there is plenty of liquid, they will absorb a lot. Often though, we just have the vegetables and no grains. Add any frozen gravies you happen to have in the freezer, keep on low boil for a few hours, add the meat. Season well, lots of salt and pepper, I used to use soy sauce but have been avoiding it lately so I use Braggs instead.
There it is. Serve and watch it disappear.
For beef soup, it can be done exactly the same way and it will be great. But for the last few years I have been charring the bones in a roasting dish in an extremely hot oven for about an hour, then using these as the basis for soup. Wash the roasting dish with fresh water a couple of times and use the 'washings' in the soup. This makes a really dark, rich stock.
An interesting note - one of my downfalls with soup was that I loved to eat it with bread. Usually more bread than I normally ate. I have started eating it without bread, and have found myself just as satisfied, for as long.
We have just had an experience of 'appearances aren't always what they seem' in our family.
My older brother, my 'big brother', appears a happy family man. He is on a six-figure salary, huge house, buys his vehicles new, is considering expensive private schools for his children. He has everything intelligence can get someone. Except faith.
We just realised over the weekend that things have NOT been going well after all. We had no idea. He and his wife always appear to have everything together, their lives revolve around their children and their activities, which concerned us a bit, but they seemed really fine. It appears for a long time that he has been hiding information from our side of the family, and now it has all blown up in his face. His marriage is over by all accounts, another woman is involved. A lot of his 'business travel' has been a cover for other activities.
Our family is really rocked. You hear of this going on all the time but to someone else.
Sin is so ugly, and affects so many people, its ripples are far-reaching.
This is such a lesson to me. We as children were always brought up to honour intelligence. To get a good career and have a secure life. My dad grew up through the depression, so this was the way many of his peers brought up their children. I have sub-consciously admired my brother for his success and lifestyle, forgetting that we are all equal before God and our earthly 'stuff' counts for nothing.
I had a chat to my son yesterday. I told him that I would rather he lived in a little shack, working in a rubbish dump, if he lived his life with honesty and integrity.
The order in the bible is faith, virtue, knowledge (2 Peter 1:5). Faith first, then virtue or character, knowledge and intelligence a very low third. We need to determine to not get it around the other way.
A good thing is that this may be a chance for God to intervene in my brothers life. I have always felt that for God to touch him he would need to be bought to the end of himself, his intelligence and self-sufficiency has stopped this so far.
She rises in the morning at a time she determines best for her family. She runs her day according to her family schedule, she is not at the mercy of imposed timetables. She can pick and choose activities that will be of benefit to her family.
She doesn't feel she has to live up to a certain image. No one minds much if her hair turns a little grey, or her clothes get a bit frumpy. She can spend all day in her favourite pair of cosy slippers.
She spends all day with some of those who mean the most to her, her children, her favourite people. She doesn't worry about 'quality time' with her children, she is just with them. Working, discussing, growing, they are just together.
There is great room for intellectual stimulation. Maths, science, history become fascinating as they all point to the creator who is 'before all things, and in him all things hold together'.
If life starts to feel a bit stale she is free to pursue some creativity of her own. Writing, music, art, gardening add to the beauty of her home and life.
She lives a life of nourishment. Physical nourishment of herself and her family, she pays attention to their nutrition, ensures they get adequate rest and exercise. They are nourished through relationships, with each other and the friends and family they welcome into their home. There is spiritual nourishment too, as they learn about their creator together.
Every need is met. She has a husband who works hard to support his family. Sometimes it takes a bit of ingenuity to make ends meet, but she is never ultimately without or lacking.
She knows time is short, so she determines to make the most of it. She realises todays challenges will be tomorrows memories, or even family jokes, so she savours each stage, knowing it will be all too fleeting.
She walks the path of grace, there is ample room for her to make mistakes, to fall flat on her face again and again, and rise knowing that she is not the one in ultimate control.
She doesn't look elsewhere to try to 'find herself', for she has realised that it is in 'losing herself' that the greatest joy lies.
We have had a few 'challenges' lately with one of our children. He is the most wonderful character when he is out, very responsible and a pleasure to have, so the parents of his friends tell us. He managed to get a good job recently, with a company who doesn't usually employ people as young as him, when I went along to meet his employer he was full of compliments. But at home, he has been challenging for us. I won't go into details but it has filled me with uncertainties and wondering how to manage it and what we had done wrong.
I woke early to pray about it a few days ago. I wanted to gain God's perspective on the situation, to pray for wisdom and guidance of how to handle things. Well I ended up repenting myself, not for what I had done so much, but for the expectations I had for him.
I read a lot of homeschool books. There are such a large number of great books out there. But, somehow in all my reading, I had built up a picture of the life he should be leading. You know the picture - family oriented, not selfish, stay pure before marriage, diligent and hardworking, evangelical ... ...
Now none of these are wrong. In fact they are all very desirable and admirable. But if they come from some sense of 'right', then they are empty. Mere externals are religion. What am I going to raise? A Pharisee. And how long has it taken for me to even begin to realise that I myself are a Pharisee, in great need of God's grace - a lifetime.
We, and our children, are on an equal footing - empty sinners before God's throne of grace.
I found myself praying, not for wisdom for myself, but for God to reveal himself to my son. To speak to him directly, to touch his heart, so whatever good he does, it is a response of a grateful heart, joyful in what God has done for him.
There is a place in our children that only God can touch. No amount of parenting will convict our children of their sinfulness, their emptiness without Him, they need to come face to face with God themselves, to see their state without Him. They need to see Jesus, who he is, what he has accomplished. They need the Holy Spirit guiding them into all truth.
God is well able to capture our childrens hearts. He will bring them to a desire to know Him. He will bring them to a place where what they DO (or don't do!) is a reflection of who they ARE - in Him.
Yes, it is important to bring them up in God's ways, to shelter them from evil, to teach them God's word, to pray with and for them, to build relationship with them. But the most important task we have as parents is handing our children over to their loving Father, leaving them in His hands.
