Puppies, Toddlers, and Middle School Students.
They all need the same basic things, and my wife has decided to write a book using this premise (just kidding, I think!?).
But, she has a point. Griffey, our new puppy, is really not all that complicated. He just requires a lot of time, attention, and some wise decisions about how to train him so that he becomes a fun, obedient family dog eventually.
Similarly, we "train" our toddlers to do all sorts of things, and we simply call it parenting. Add tons of love that only a parent can give, millions of short prayers, lots of laughs, some fatigue and tiredness due to getting up at night to care for him/her, many little difficulties, and this suddenly doesn't seem all that different from raising a puppy.
Hmmm, curious...
Further, we "train" our middle school students constantly in the classroom. In order for them to become well-rounded citizens and compassionate people who aren't stuck on themselves, we have to give them a lot of individual TLC.
I see the pattern Jessica was talking about!
It reminds me of a verse in Proverbs that I will loosely relate to this whole thing..."Train up a 'child (student, puppy)' in the way he/she should go and when they are older they will not depart from it." (parentheses mine)
