“It's not only children who grow. Parents do too.
As much as we watch to see what our
As much as we watch to see what our
children do with their lives, they are watching us
to see what we do with ours. I can't tell
to see what we do with ours. I can't tell
my children to reach for the sun.
All I can do is reach for it, myself.” ~Joyce Maynard
All I can do is reach for it, myself.” ~Joyce Maynard
I was never raised around younger kids. My mother likes to tell me that the first time I held my daughter that I had a look of a deer caught in the headlights. I had no idea how to take care of a baby at that time. I still have no idea how I’m supposed to be raising my kids. What I do have is a sense of what I want my children to become in life. I have been told that I am too hard on my kids and that they are too young to expect good behavior out of-- I disagree. If any of you have ever been next to that kid screaming his lungs out in the middle of the grocery store, then you disagree as well. I look around at what some children are today and I tell myself that there is no way I would ever let my kid act like that. For this reason I have always tended to stay away from parenting advice. But as a parent, how do you know if the way you are raising them is correct? To respect authority and not to fear it? To be a happy and confident person?
Every person has one idea or another on how your children should be raised. Should they be spanked or not? Should they go to private schools? Should I feed them nothing but organic baby food? And honestly, there are no right answers. Every parent raises their children differently and different things work on children because no one of us is alike. With this blog I want to take a look and implement a well known parenting book, The Rules of Parenting: A Personal Code for Raising Happy, Confident Children by Richard Templar, and see if what the “experts” suggest will actually work, or if it all is an ideal to achieve that is not achievable in reality.
I will take one of these rules and test them out in daily situations that occur between me and my kids. Maybe it will work, or maybe it won’t. And all of the details will be out there for everyone to see. Either way, I want real parents to know what another parent is trying and what actually works for me. I’m hoping that by the end of this experiment that I will have found some new and useful ways in dealing with my children that will benefit us all.
Bravo!...For expecting respect and appropriate behavior from the start. Create positive behaviors early and positive values will follow. Good luck with your project. I hope you get good results.
ReplyDeleteThe best thing a parent can do is to show their child(ren) the way to be a good person. Having respect and obeying rules is a way to help them become that good person. Being a great example to them is also a good way. I think being a parent is a gift. I made mistakes, but I also reaped many many rewards. Good Luck as you raise your children, I think you are on the right path!
ReplyDeleteI know when my first born was handed to me I did not get a manual. I was nervous, a little scared but instinct took over and it became natural.
ReplyDeleteAs parents we make many mistakes and sometimes we learn from them, sometimes we don't till it smacks us in the head.
I have seen you with your children, you have a patience that I never had. I look forward to following this blog.
I think that you're correct, there is no "right" way to raise your children, but as long as you know how you want your kids to be...and stick to it, you can't go wrong. I think that you have that idea. I loved that you brought in the screaming kids at the grocery store. I work at one and I am shocked to see how some children act while out in public. There is no reason why a child should be allowed to run around the store, scream at their parents for not buying them something, or to be rude to anyone there. Those parents could use a parenting book. Good luck with your blog, I'm looking forward to reading it.
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