I recently spoke to someone who was named godparent of a child. This person's definition of godparent was to be there when the mom needs someone. I always thought that, in the traditional sense, godparents were the ones responsible for the child upon the parents' death, and in addition, responsible for encouraging the child's spiritual upbringing. I'd like to think that I was chosen as godparent to all of my godchildren (I either have 2 or 5, depending on the status of legal paperwork, and am not accepting any more applicants for the time being) because of those reasons. I chose Ace's godparents because they're stable, responsible, they LOVE Ace, and would be fantastic stand-in parents to him if Drew and I kicked off. They're not particularly spiritual, but I know they'd make the right choice in encouraging his faith.
Plus, I know Ace's godfather likes scratching himself under the chin and calling himself "the godfather." Can't say I blame him. That wasn't my top priority, but it was up there.
I know there are traditional religious requirements for the position, but that aside, why did you choose your child's godparents? Did you choose the same ones for all of your children? Are the godparents married to one another?
5 months ago
3 comments:
I think the taking care of the kid after the parents die is less of the point now that being completely orphaned is rare. The guidance thing is probably more important, but many people just see it as a tradition. Personally, I'm a godparent and a really bad influence.
I'm not a godmother at the moment but I can honestly say that if my godparents were responsible for me in the case of my parents' death, I'd be fending for myself because my godfather hasn't been in touch with the family for ten years (he's driving a school bus in Gainesville) and my godmother, bless her heart, is an enormous flake who sometimes forgets the name of her cat. In present day, I think godparents are supposed to be more like surrogate aunts and uncles.
My godparents (Aunt Sylba and Parran) were married and co-raised me with my single mother, so I have a really awesome godparent story.
Jessa's godparents, Uncle Walter and Cousin Janie (what?!), are not married and I don't think either would have been ready to take care of her if something had happened to ma mama. Once we learned what godparents were (my mom has the traditional idea), I always teased Jessa that if she was nice I'd let her stay with my godparents if Mommy died.
As you know, I keep in touch with my surviving godparent to this day and plan to for the rest of my life!
When I choose my kid's godparent(s), I'm going to make sure it's going to be someone responsible enough to fulfill their role when I get eaten by a sea lion.
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