Soulful Thoughts of Rachel

Remember that each day, your attitude shapes and molds your children. Your children see your attitude as a guideline which can greatly influence or mold their character and conduct as they grow older. Mold your children into individuals with good moral conduct by being one yourself.

I’m sure many parents with young children are bombarded with dozens and perhaps hundreds of questions almost everyday. Topic can be be so diverse. A child can be curious about an insect and in a few minutes his attention will turn towards the sky. There are times that we become too preoccupied with adult activities and responsibilities that we tend to consider our child’s question as petty and unimportant. However, we should realize that to our child that question is important. Taking time to answer our child’s question will have great long term benefits. Some things may be too complicated for a child to grasp yet. Just remember to answer your child geared towards his age and understanding. A child will appreciate the time you give him.

I would like to share a very interesting list of rules that I read from a book. Dr. R. F. Hertz, a British Psychologist conducted a research where in he asked children between the ages of 8 and 14 in different countries to make a list of rules of behavior for parents. Test results have been compiled and I think the list is a great eye opener for many parents.

1. Do not quarrel in front of your children.
2. Don’t lie to a child.
3. Always answer children’s questions.
4. Treat all your children with equal affection.
5. There must be a mutual tolerance between parents and children.
6. There should be comarediship
7. Treat your children’s friends as welcome visitors.
8. Don’t blame or punish your child in the presence of his friends.
9. Concentrate on your child’s good points, and don’t emphasize his failings.
10. Be constant in your affection and your moods.

Expose your child to the world outside home and school. Try to regularly bring your child to new and exciting places that he can enjoy and explore. You can bring your child to places where he can learn many wonderful things like the zoo, museums, nature parks, concerts and plays. Broaden your child’s exposure to the world. Positively feed your child’s curiosity and encourage learning through discovery.

Recognize the small good things that your child does. A positive remark can help foster good behavior. Say “very good”, “great job”, “job well done” and other positive lines if your child …

• puts his toys away after playing
• finishes the food on his plate
• brushes his teeth after a meal
• shares his toys with others
• takes a nap in the afternoon
• finishes his homework
• bring home nice artwork or project from school
• and so on

Let us appreciate many other little things that our children do everyday. Positive recognition can inspire our children to continue doing good things.

Our children are the hope of our Motherland.

~ Dr. Jose Rizal (Philippine National Hero)

It is important that we raise our children to be good citizens because when they grow older, it will be their turn to run the country. As parents, we should set a good example to our children. Let us nurture positive thoughts, right conduct and good manners while they are young.

A child often becomes curious and motivate to explore and try to gradually do some things on his own between two to three years of age. Encourage your child to enjoy discovering new things around him with proper supervision. A child can learn a lot of things through experience. Try not to set a reasonable boundary in terms of self discovery. Although it is encouraging to see a child realize the exciting aspect of discovery, parents should always be on the look out. Child proof your house by removing potential dangers such as putting away medicines and harmful household cleaners, padding sharp furniture edges and covering electrical outlets.

 As your child grows older, help him or her understand the concepts of needs and wants. Help your child distinguish between the two. Set concrete examples and categorize them accordingly.

Need pertains to important things in life that are important for survival. Want refers to a desire to have something that is not necessarily important to every day living. For example …

I need food, water, air and shelter.

I want a new toy.

As soon as a child learns how to count, you can gradually introduce him to the concept of money. Explain to him that money is not something that is always available inside your wallet or bag. Let them know that money is earned by working hard.

Teach children about the importance of saving money. Buy your child a cute piggy bank and encourage him to save his coins by dropping them inside the piggy bank.

For very young children, encourage savings creatively. You can tell you child that dropping coins inside the piggy bank is like feeding a pet pig. Each time a coin is dropped inside, the pig becomes happy. The more coins results to a happier pig.

I was tagged by Hailey to this meme.

Here are the 5 Things I want Yohan to know before he grows up.

1. To learn the importance of love, kindness and respect.
2. To have establish good faith in God.

3. To discover life at his own pace, without pressure and worries.
4.  To have the freedom to express himself.

5.  To enjoy life while he is young.