Shepherding a Child's Heart

(^) Chapter 5
Examining Your Goals
It was a cool, brisk fall day. In spite of the light rainfall, it was a
festive—a vintage western Pennsylvania—homecoming day. The
band played. Every group, from the Future Farmers of America to the
Veterans of Foreign Wars, marched along the parade route. We were
chilly beneath our umbrella, but who could walk away from all this
homey entertainment? At the end of the parade was a troupe of junior
majorettes ages three to five. One near the rear caught my eye. She
looked to be under three years of age. Her skimpy costume left her
body exposed to the elements. She was crying. As the troupe marched
in the drizzle she kept breaking rank—running to her mother. There
was no comfort there. Her mother kept pushing her back to her place
in the rank. I will never forget the sense of desperation and confusion
in the eyes of this tyke as she marched by us sobbing.
(^) This mother’s actions implied certain parenting goals. We may
suppose that she wanted her daughter to be beautiful and sought-after.
She knew that you can’t start too young to preparing your child to
fulfill your childhood dreams. This was important to Mom. It doesn’t
require too much imagination to fill in Mom’s agenda, or to imagine
how this girl spent her childhood.
(^) I do not know the mother in question. I am not sure of her specific
goals or how self-conscious she was of the things that drove her to
make sacrifices, to run alongside the troupe, bent over, urging her
child to hold the baton correctly and keep in line. I am sure of this:
She had goals for her daughter. We all have. There are objectives that
direct our choices as we raise our children. Some folks can articulate
their goals. Other goals may be implied by the choices parents make.