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Teach Your Children Life Lessons - 7
Life Tips All Children Need to Learn
Kids today can learn to lead a happy and
full life if they are taught to adjust to what life
hands them. Here are seven important things to make sure
you teach your children.
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Life has ups and downs. Not every day is
going to go your way. Learn to get through the bad
times. We accomplish this lesson by praising them when
they succeed at something and encouraging them when they
struggle. If you were not encouraged as a child, this
will seem alien at first. But, after a few attempts, you
will feel more comfortable with it - and your children
will show improvement.
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Parents are there to teach you how to
take care of yourself. NOT to indulge you in every way.
We accomplish this lesson by setting boundaries. A
boundary does not tell another person what to do. A
boundary tells another person what you will do if
they continue to do something that makes you
uncomfortable. "Stop talking back to me." is not a
boundary. A boundary would be: "I don't like it when you
talk back to me in that tone of voice. The next time you
do it, I will take away your tv privileges."
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We are entitled to life - only life.
What happens with that life is up to you. Don't expect
everything handed to you on a silver platter. One
important lesson we can teach our children is "an
attitude of gratitude". Teach them to say "please" and
"thank you". This is just one little step in teaching
our children that life is give and take.
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Respect others. This means everyone -not
just people who can give you what you want. The easiest
way to teach children respect is to display it. Show
them that we respect them. Show them that we respect
others - even those less fortunate than ourselves.
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Bad things happen when you don't follow
the rules. Today's kids might know the rules, but most
also know that nothing bad happens when you break the
rules. Again, work on understanding boundaries. And,
when you set a boundary - follow through.
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There are disappointments in life. When
we were kids, we had many unhappy days, but each one was
a learning experience that taught us how to move on.
Now, we are successful and happy. Had we NOT learned how
to deal with disappointment, we would be wandering
around wondering why the world was picking on us. It
hurts us to see our children disappointed, but if we
don't teach them to deal with those disappointments,
they will never learn to brush themselves off and
succeed the next time. If your child is disappointed
because they lost a race, encourage them by pointing out
how much they've improved. Let them know that they can
try again and again.
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Failing is a part of life. When we learn
to deal with failure as a child, it becomes an obstacle
that can be conquered - not a concrete wall. Children
that are given the opportunity to fail - and then
supported and shown how to try again, grow up self
confident and able to do anything. When my children fail
at something, I often share my own failures with them. I
assure them that the failures did hurt. But they did not
stop me from continuing. We can acknowledge the failure
and then pain - and then move on to try again.
If parents aren't teaching the hard
knocks of life to their kids, we face a future of
self-entitled adults who wonder why nothing works for
them. They won't be able to deal with marriage or
competition in the work place. They will have a hard
time dealing with life's daily disappointments.
Teach your children how to deal with life's daily
stumbling blocks and you create a self confident
individual who can accomplish anything.
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