Battles Worth Fighting

So I read this post on someone's blog and it made me think. Do I really distinguish between battles that are worth fighting and ones that aren't? There are some for me that are given, but do I fight others that I probably shouldn't be wasting time on?

So here is my off the cuff list of:

Battles (not) worth fighting

1. Manners - Worth the fight. This is one of those battles that there are days (like today with Grace) that we are completely loosing. The point is not to give up right, that we, as adults are ultimately more stubborn then our children, so eventually they will fall into line. That is the hope at least, however, four year old girls have been our biggest problem area (so far).

2. School Attendance - Not worth the fight. I know there are a lot of people that disagree with me on this one, but I figure your child can have 15 absences before you get in any real trouble (Jared missed three months before any one called his parents) so if my kids are having a rough day and don't want to go to school, who cares? However, this only applies to abscences I know about (call it "controlled abscences"). Skipping school to hang out with friends - Worth the fight.

3. Homework- Not worth the fight. Scout goes to school 6 hours a day, why should she then spend two hours doing homework outside of school? i think if she has been in school that long and wants to come home and play outside or read a chapter book or even play her sea exploration video game then she can. I am not going to make her spend an hour looking for her ten spelling words in a magazine. That's just stupid. We do however spend a half hour reviewing Spanish and spelling words (in non magazine fashion) along with her Fast Forward Reading program. (Have you guys heard of this? It reminds me of my mom, I am sure she would agree with this program, and for Grace I think it would be great but for Scout it's just busy work and it drives me crazy to have to do it for 10 minutes every night. Although, Scout does enjoy the actual rhymes.)

4. Clothes, Matching - Not worth the fight. Clothes, Modesty - Worth the fight.

5. Eating (what) - Worth the fight. Eating (when) - Not worth the fight. My kids have to eat what we give them, and try some of everything. If they aren't hungry they don't have to eat, as long as they know that when they do get hungry they still have to eat the same thing.

6. Church - Worth the fight. Once they can stay home alone they won't have to go to church, but I figure if they are going to break the sabath by not going to church then it won't matter if they break it more by cleaning the whole time they are home.

7. Language - Worth the fight. Right now our naughty words are "stupid" and "rude" but it will evolve to age appropriate stuff. The Lord's name is always against the rules, but in general we ignore most naughty words unless they start getting used often.

8. Piercings- Not worth the fight, after age 8. I had to wait until I was 8 to get my ears peirced so my girls will have to wait too. That way they will remember how much it hurts. Then if they want to get more, and a small guilt trip about the prophet saying you shouldn't have more then one doesn't work, then fine. The nice thing about piercings is that you can always take them out and no one notices they were there.

9. Hair - Not worth the fight. It's hair, you can always cut it shorter or dye it a different color. I shaved my head when I was 22 and I have thought about doing it again. And if Scout wants pink hair then I'll even dye it for her, as long as it's in the summer because the school doesn't allow excentric hair colors. Personally, I've always wanted bright blue, at least on the ends, but think I have probably gotten too old, if not in age then in personality, to do it.

10. Seat belts, Shots, and Swimming Lessons - Worth the fight. I stole this one because I completely agree. My kids have never had a problem with not wearing their seat belts, but I look at other people with their kids climbing over the seats when they are driving and it reminds me why this is worth the fight. Safety first, but, come one, those kids are annoying me, how could they possibly not be annoying thier parents?