I am slogging my way through Teach the Children after being gifted it from my mom as a thrift store treasure. It is long, meaty and not a super easy read. By the time I finish the book, I might just forget what was in the beginning! So I will be posting something I learn every week or so from it to help me remember. 

Here’s Principle #1: What it Means to Teach Children to Walk Uprightly

In the Doctrine and Covenants 68:28 it says, “And they shall also teach their children to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.” What does this mean?

In the book, the author, Neil Flinders, explains what it means. He states that animals walk on all fours. Man walks on two feet, or uprightly. When we teach our children to walk uprightly, we are teaching them to act as children of God, and not like animals. So that means teaching our children manners, morals, impulse control, faith in God as a loving Heavenly Father, faith in Jesus Christ, and love for all mankind. This little nugget of truth is helpful for me every day. If my child grunts or growls to communicate, I remind myself that he or she is acting like an animal. So I use my Nicholeen Peck parenting skills to say, “Just now, you were acting like an animal. Let’s act like a child of God and have a ‘do-over.'” Then I explain how I want the child to answer, then we have the “do over.”