I was reflecting recently on an experience I’d had a couple of years ago.  I think I needed some assurance that I was doing at least a couple of things right as a Mom.

I had been talking with a few boys who are part of the scouting program.  I asked them what it meant to be “clean” as that is one of the qualities listed in the Scout Law.  Most of them said it meant to have good hygiene, to wash our hands, to keep our bodies clean.  Others talked about the idea of “leave no trace” when camping—that we want to keep nature as we found it and keep the outdoors clean from rubbish. These were all perfectly good answers, coming from some great kids
.When I had asked my son, Abraham, though, his response was to tell me that being clean meant using clean language, having good thoughts, not watching shows with inappropriate messages or words.  He was talking about being clean spiritually.  I could not have been more pleased.  Whether or not he could tie 6 kinds of knots or could tell me the ins and outs of treating insect bites (he probably could, actually) didn’t matter in the least at that moment. What mattered was that my son knew something very central to being a good scout, and a good person—to be clean.

It was a good reminder for me, too—as I think about my thoughts and actions, and interactions.  How clean is my language, how clean are my thoughts and intentions?  Nobody’s perfect, of course, but I thought it was a good reminder, and it gave me some assurance that despite my gaps in teaching my children, they are picking up some good things along the way:)