Kids!

“OH, no, they’re coming!” That’s only my initial and spontaneous reaction when the kids, grade schoolers in the morning and high schoolers in the afternoon, descend every Saturday to the place where I stay.

My place is, of course, a nice, cozy home that happens also to be an activity center for different groups, including kids. Well, that’s modern life for you today! We, including our homes, need to be all things to all men and kids!

All of a sudden, the house becomes an anthill, the sound and action level takes a quantum leap, you get the effects of a typhoon or a tsunami, and I have to be more prayerful and supernatural to cope with the reality.

We try our best to make the house kid-proof—minimizing anything breakable, locking the TV, and hiding the computers except for one or two, for you just can’t keep the kids from playing with these gadgets.

Obviously, they need to be accompanied, or at least supervised every minute, and there has to be a well-thought-out plan of activities for them for the day. Thanks to God, that’s always prepared when they come.

I’m not directly involved in the activity. I see them from a distance, but I get moved all the time. Such exploding energy, such bursting creativity actually cries to be given proper direction and supported with an appropriate structure.

When I get the chance, I give suggestions to those in charge. Age has given me a certain understanding of how kids think and behave, and what they need to grow and gain maturity. Of course, this requires constant verification.

That’s why, I even dare to foray into their world, mixing and roughing it up with them. This is my way of knowing them and how they are, and also of what’s the latest in their planet, and assessing them.

The latter task is very crucial, since everything that should be done with the kids should be related to a clear goal. We cannot afford to be off-the-scent insofar as children’s development is concerned.

And the goal should be nothing less than to make them truly Christian. This, of course, demands a lot of things—time, effort, money, integrated systems and programs involving several stages and aspects. But the goal should be clear.

With kids, one has to be patient and endlessly creative and sporty as well. He has to be a dynamo of energy. These are indispensable since he needs to play with them, know how to give and take, demand and tolerate, etc.

It’s important to realize that what ought to be done is to help the kids clearly define and develop their own characters. These can come in many forms, of course, but they can still be animated by one same spirit—that of Christ.

Early on, the kids have to understand that being a person means giving oneself to God and to others. It means serving, thinking of others all the time. They have to be slowly weaned from their natural tendency to be self-centered.

They actually go through the process in some natural way, and thus, they have to be respected in their ways and pace of transforming themselves. We have to be sensitive to their subjective conditions, which can widely vary from kid to kid, and be ready with prompt reinforcing motives to go on.

We should avoid giving the impression that we are controlling them. They can have a fierce sense of freedom and individuality, which has both good and dangerous potentials. We have to discern which is which and act accordingly.

Obviously, a good mix of activities should be found, constantly varying them as circumstances dictate. The physical, social, cultural, intellectual and spiritual aspects should be given due attention.

They have to be helped to discover their talents and other good natural endowments and to employ them properly. It’s important that what they enjoy doing do not become occasions to develop obsessions and self-absorption.

They also need to know how to deal with their weaknesses and temptations, especially those related to chastity.

They need to learn to pray as early as possible, making them understand that prayer is not just some sentimental pietistic act, but rather a realistic way of knowing the truth since with it they talk with God, who is truth himself. Practical examples and direct help should be done to make them see this truth clearly.