Simple truths that make for happy little humansRealise that children are little human beings. Appreciatingthis truth can keep us from expecting unreasonable things from our children. It's amazing how prone we are to expecting children to behave in ways we would never behave ourselves. I remember readingthe example of the young man with the new sports car. His younger brother wants a go. He's 17 and he's just passed his driving test. Would you expect big brother to share his toy? No way. But for some reason, we expect children, shy of their second year, to share their toys. Why are our young children less entitled to ownership of their possessions than you or me? Of course there’s a place for sharing, but think about and appreciate what it is you’re asking for. Another example, we wonder why it’s painful dragging our toddlers around the shops while we barely expect Daddy to do so! They’re little humans and we should be careful about what we’re asking of and expecting from them.Prevention is better than cure – the power of a little notice. We’ve all seen the wailing child being dragged out of the playground or the toy store. We’ve seen the poor mother chasing little Johnny for his bath. Well, you’d be surprised the effect a little notice can have. What if your boss in work came up to you at lunch break, demanded that you drop everything and attend to a business matter which could just as well wait another 15 minutes to be tended to? You’d tell him where to stuff his urgent business matter! It’s not really reasonable to expect our children to drop everything and immediately fall into line with our plans. How about letting the little people in on the plan ahead of time? You’d be surprised how much easier things can become. It’s all about respect really. We need to think – are we trying to convenience ourselves, or are we trying to raise happy self-confident children who have learned that they matter and are respected as intelligent human beings?
Love is a four letter word spelled t-i-m-e. How corny. I can’t remember where I read this before but it is so profoundly true. This universal concept applies to our relationships with our children, irrespective of age. The only thing you have of value to give your children is you and you can’t make up for that with anything else. If you want your children to learn that they are loved, respected and cherished little human beings, the only way you can teach them is to give them your time - quality dedicated time. It’s really very simple but it’s so important. It can be hard, though. That’s where time management comes in. If you are struggling to give of your time, perhaps it’s an opportunity to look at time management techniques. Examine yourself and identify what you are spending the bulk of your time on. Then ask yourself if these things are important enough to squeeze out your kids. Schedule quality time with your children – it’s one of the most important things you can do to teach them that they are important and loved....
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Author: Jody Dillon