Freedom Of Speech .... For kids

        Yesterday was a day like no other....

  

  For a very unexpected reason at that. At what point is it okay to allow your children to speak their mind?

    What age do we say yes you can say what you think. ( as long as it comes out respectful , open and honest ) 

  

That was my struggle for the past 6 months of my life.

My 8 year old son walked up to me one morning in December 2014 and asked me if it was okay. For him to say what he thinks and feels to someone that he fears. Someone that had been none stop trying to take over his life. ( how he feels )

He struggled with my answer to the question as did I for months of his asking me. If it was time yet that he could speak his mind. Even after he had declared to the world his wishes and wants. Still he felt no one cared or wanted to hear what he had to say.

 He asked me what seemed like every day. At what age he was going to be old enough to be able to say what he wants and thinks. That he will not only be able speak his mind but for it to really matter. To those adults who should allow him to have the freedom to say who he does or does not want in his life.

  I prayed , spoke to my priest, my husband and then I prayed some more. After months if struggling with the question I sat down and had a talk with my kids. ( 8yrs and 9 yrs old ) We decided that as a family we would allow them to speak their minds. That as long as they did this in a way that was respectful in their eyes. That my husband and I would be respectful of our kids wishes.

Parenting is hard enough with out other people trying to control our kids. We decided that their is no age limit for kids to have an opinion. That their age shouldn't matter as long as our kids aren't harming their selves. That they need to keep an open mind because everyone has an opinion.

I'm proud of my kids especially proud of my son for wanting the freedoms. That he as an American citizen has and has the right to not only know but the right to use. 

We try to teach our kids about not only their rights
 but about our country and why its so great.