What Else I Know for Sure About Parenting

Children learn more from what you say than what you do!

Or at least as much. If you don't believe me, just listen to a little girl playing with her dolls. She will treat them the same way you treat her and say the same things. It is very eye opening! I can see that my kids picked up some good habits and some bad habits of mine.

Watch your children closely. You will see yourself in them in how they treat each other, how they communicate with their friends and, how much respect they show you.

If you treat others with respect, your child will see that and do the same. That is especially true if you also reinforce it with telling them why you do that. It is not necessary to lecture them on why they should do it. Kids are smart little copycats and they want to be just like you.

Have respect for yourself and expect others to treat you the same way. If you are in a relationship in which you are disrespected, get out. You are teaching dangerous lessons to your children. It does not matter how often you tell your little girl to not ever let someone treat her like that. The odds are that she will--because you have taught her that women do not have to be treated with honor.

No matter how many times you tell your little boy that the way you are being treated is no way to treat women, he has learned another lesson. He has learned that you do not really care if you are respected or not. And he has learned to treat other women the same way.

Another point to mention is about money. If you are frugal and teach good money management to your children as they watch you manage your finances carefully, they will have been taught a valuable lesson that will help them to be more financially secure in their life.

However, if you are always living paycheck to paycheck, spending more than you have (like the Federal Government), and always stressing about money--expect your kids to grow up and follow the same pattern. That child will have a very hard time finding financial security.

So many other examples are out there. Bottomline, just be careful what your children see you do and how you react to various situations. It truly does rub off on them.