Setting Boundaries

          Well, I have introduced ya'all to THAT child, and to the NP child; so I suppose it's time to introduce you to the remaining two, the BABY and the GAMER. The GAMER is the second-oldest and is an incredibly loving child with a very intense video game addiction. So intense that I chose to remove video games from our home. I believe that for this reason; he has decided to live with his father for the time being.  For a bit of background, he was introduced to video games at a young age. The NP child and the GAMER's father played video games; though not obsessively. When we split up the opportunity wasn't there, as they rarely saw their father(his choice, I did nothing to prevent him from seeing the children every weekend.).When I met my current husband and we began to build our life together the opportunity re-introduced itself, though in a far more primitive form.  I continued to struggle with him and his video game addiction through starting school and chores. He would often lie about having his homework and his chores done so that he could play his game of choice. If I went outside to do chores, he would sneak onto the game system. No amount of punishment helped, it was the same situation daily. This is the reason that the games were removed from our home. Now that he has decided to stay with his father, the video games have made a reappearance in his life, and from what the NP child has told me, his school work is beginning to suffer again.
          Now to introduce you to the BABY. She was the best decision I have ever made. The decision to have "just one more" before I turned 35. She is spunky and rambunctious, loving and innocent. There is nothing I love better than waking up to her babbling in the morning. She is a precious piece of innocence in my life. She loves animals and colors. Her favorite thing to do is to wake her daddy up in the morning.  I love taking pictures of her and taking her with me everywhere. When she snuggles up to me, my heart just melts. The same thing happens when I have to tell her no...and her little lip comes out and her eyes well up with tears...
           But, the point I am trying to make with the introductions of both the GAMER and the BABY is that children need boundaries. It doesn't matter if the problem is video game addiction or something as innocent as the BABY putting her fingers where they shouldn't be. There need to be boundaries in our children's lives. I often wonder if many of the problems that are going on in this country today may have been changed if the culprits had had parents that set clear boundaries? Had told them that they need to be home by curfew and followed through? Had shut off that violent movie they were watching and prayed with them? Satan is everywhere in this world, and all it takes is one person to stand up and say no....others will follow. As Christians, we need to lead by example, and that example starts in the home.