Child-training, without a Fall

 As I have been pondering child-training again, I have considered what it would look like to have raised children in Eden. Obviously there is a certain amount of speculation inherent in considering a 'what if'; but in this case, we have some information to build on.

1. The Garden (and the Earth) were always meant to be filled with children and people (Gen 1:28).
2. The only perfect child ever actually born was Jesus, and He was born into a fallen world, so He dealt with things that would not have existed in a sinless world (Heb 4:15; 7:26-28).
3. Jesus had to mature as a human being (Luke 2:52).
4. Jesus learned obedience through His suffering (Heb 5:8). Also, Adam and Eve obviously needed to learn obedience even in a sinless world; they failed to, at least initially.

  So, on a sinless earth, child-training would still have been necessary; children would not have been born mature... which doesn't even sound nice.  It might even have been necessary to teach children obedience, though that is completely speculative.  I would imagine from Genesis 1 and 2, as well as the rest of Scripture, that the areas of training for sinless children would have been concerned with loving God wholeheartedly, loving the people around you as yourself, and loving/ruling the land God has placed you on/in.  All of that still seems to be necessary and appropriate today.
  So, what was added to parents' responsibility at the Fall?  The basic change seems to be that now children will have to fight Sin and the effects of the Curse and Death from both inside and outside.  The positive side of teaching God's laws and ways did not necessarily change, and those are emphasized in Scripture.  But, I think those things would have been true in a sinless world.  What changed was that now the parent must fight his own sin nature, not provoke the child's inclination to sin, and train the child to fight their sin (Eph 6:4; Col 3:21).  I don't think that stretches these passages.  A final change would be that the parents are to aid the child in restraining and warring against his or her sin.  Solomon's Proverbs speak of that, which is another aspect I am studying.
 What I've found helpful in these thoughts is that it delineates my areas of responsibility as a parent.  It also makes it clear that I could successfully train my child in some areas while basically failing in others. For instance, I could teach them to love the place in which they have been placed without teaching them to love and listen to God.  Or, conversely, I might train them, by grace, to love God yet neglect to teach them to love the land in which they have been placed.  Of course, my brokenness will ensure that I cannot train them perfectly, but I hope that in grace I will continue learning and growing to train their hearts, minds, and strength better.