So over the last few months Shawn and I have really been talking about what kind of people we want our children to be. Some of this is spawned by wanting to help our children overcome some of our short comings and some is based on experiences we have had with people in our lives.
I feel this need to create flexible yet strong, respectful, contributing members of society. I did get a small glimps of Isaac's ability to do this the other day. He went to play with a friend and at that friends house they are not allowed to use the word kill. Now, we are not allowed to use that word toward other people but if it is one action figure saying it to another we over look that rule. But once he was informed of this rule at his friend's house he and his little friend decided to use the term "knocked out." He got home that night and insisted on going back over to tell his little friend that he had thought of a new word they could use... "defeated." Yes, I know this seem small but I was so proud of my son for adjusting to the cards he was dealt and making the best of it.
Another lesson I want to teach my children to be respectful of and value other people's time. I hope that by teaching them to find value in their own time that they can learn to appreciate the time others dedicate to helping them in all aspects of life. I do not want my children to be those people who take advantage of others with no thought of it. A person that thinks the world revolves around them, their life and their schedule and it can be changed on whim with no notice.
I want my children to be good decision makers. I think all parents want this for their children but I think many are more successful at acheiving this than others. If you are one of those parents that have children that are great decission makers please let me know. I have watched those that I love make decissions that move them in a direction that I know they don't want to be going and wonder, can they not see the path in front of them? How do I help my children open their eyes and see past the moment and into tomorrow? How do I get them to focus beyond the inconvienience and see the reward. Have you ever taken a picture and the point your camera chooses to focus on what is in the foreground but it blurs out the beauty of the background, the bigger picture, the reason you decided to take the picture in the first place? I want my children to see the whole picture the beauty behind the blur.
In sacrament meeting on Sunday a story was told relating the war in heaven to the raising children. We need to let our children make choices and experience the consequences. They should experience both failures and successes. I hope that I will have the strength as I continue to raise my children to allow them to make their own decissions, so that their successes will be theirs and their failures will be their lesson to learn.
I need my children to know that they get to write their own life story. They can make their life look exactly like they dream. Often times that dream requires more work than people are willing to put into it, but it can be done. I need to find a way to teach them that the harder they work the "luckier" they will be. Decide what you want in your life and make it a priority.
So I am begging you, if you have tips on how to do this please let me know. I know I have really great kids and I don't want to fail them. I hope to be able to teach them to take control and be who they want to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment