Righteous pampering: Why children deserve to be pampered

Many parents don't want to be seen as pampering their children. This is a common attitude amongst American parents. Most American parents think that pampering their children is the irresponsible choice in parenting. However, the Bible and its context strongly recommend babying children through righteous pampering.

Righteous pampering is a part of the Christian doctrine of mutual submission. See Colossians 3:20-21 KJV:

Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

The Greek root word translated "obey" is υπακουο (Latin: hupakouo) and refers to secure, vulnerable rest in the love and submission of parents. This word ultimately refers to a secure attachment between parent and child in the family home. This secure attachment comes from parent submission, where parents are to submit to their children as they would to God, from beneath yet from above, expecting absolutely nothing in return.

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers to damages or offenses, namely the slightest of personal offense perceived by a child, including, but not limited to, the slightest of offensive touch or speech perceived by a child, stemming from entitlement. This commandment was intended by the Apostle Paul, and understood in its original context, as a moral statute prohibiting all forms of punitive parenting, including, but not limited to, any punishments, reprimands, or other controlling demeanor towards children. In the Old Testament, punitive parents were put to death by way of bloodletting, after punishing their children one last time. Parents who punished their children were charged with kidnapping, with "kidnapping" being defined under the Law as the slightest of damages or offenses stemming from hostage-taking - child punishment was seen in biblical times as holding your child hostage merely for things that they did wrong, thereby treating your child as a quartered slave. Paul here was lifting up the Law in order to convict a group of Greek Christian parents who brought their pagan custom of spanking and punishing children into the church. Paul, contrary to popular legend, was anti-spanking, and opposed any and all punishment of a child in his secular writings. Paul may not have gotten along with the women of the church, but he sure loved children, and even took in a few orphaned children during his time. Indeed, Greco-Roman fathers got out the scourge of cords in order to punish children, but NOT the Christians among them - the Early Christians were largely persecuted for being "too soft" on their children.

Righteous pampering refers to pampering your child, but in just the right way. For the first 6 years of a child's life, children were in constant closeness to mothers, meaning that wherever the mother went, so did the child. The Early Christians practiced birth nudity, where mother and child were quartered in the family home, in skin-on-skin closeness and intimacy. For the first 2 years of a child's life, they were constantly held, either in mom's arms, or in a papoose bag on mom's back when mom had her hands full. From ages 2-6, children ranged next to mothers, demanding that mothers remain in their line of sight, with such children having separation anxiety about mothers "going away and never coming back". Whenever a child cried at home, mothers cooed at them before picking up their children, then holding them in skin-on-skin mammary closeness. Come nightfall, children co-slept next to mothers in skin-on-skin format, with this co-sleeping lasting until the child reached the onset of puberty, which was when most children wanted their own place to sleep.

When out and about in public, children were swaddled to the bosom of mothers in swaddling blankets. The swaddling blankets were made of velvet, which was grown throughout the Ancient Middle East. The swaddling blankets were tied to the mother's left breast, and then from there across the dot to the mother's right leg, or vice versa, or both in the cases. Children, from there, were tucked underneath the loose-fitting, revealing dress of mothers that resembled an apron. When children were upset, they were held closer to the mother's bosom.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their children to anger through punitive parenting will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them be cast forever into the lake of fire and burning sulfur, which is the second death prepared for Satan and his accomplices! Let them descend into the abyss which is the ever-burning Hell of fire and torment, suffering God's Wrath day and night forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!