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It is crystal clear that the early years of a child’s life are
crucial in determining the kind of person he will became as an
adult. Though even the most well brought up child can turn bad if he
gets into the wrong crowd, he still has a much better chance of
making it through those stormy teen years than the kid who has been
neglected and mishandled.
Any upbringing worth its salt will have parents
who have one eye on the future even as they deal with the matters at
hand. After all, the job of parents is to prepare their children for
adulthood. This is why raising a child calls for moving him forward
toward a life of increased responsibilities.
The matured person is one who can handle
himself. He is disciplined and self–motivated. He has goals and
the work ethic that allow him to achieve those goals. Responsible
parents start teaching these positive character traits as early as
possible without putting too much pressure on their kids.
Little things like helping around the house,
showing respect for the household help and siblings and, most of
all, being accountable for their own behavior. The sooner this
begins, the better. Children, who pick up these positive traits
early on are more apt to hold on to them in later on. Besides, if
you do not teach this early, doing so later will be all the more
difficult.
Often we parents hesitate to impose these things
on our children because it causes them inconvenience and even pain.
We sometimes pull back because we fear their rejection of us. We
want them to love us and when we insist, we worry that they might
get angry at us and withhold their love.
We need to believe more in the goodness of our
children. The sincerity we show them will not be lost on them.
Despite their efforts to avoid the unpleasant and their temper
tantrums when we enforce our rules through appropriate discipline,
they know full well that we love them inspite of it all.
We also need to believe that even if they cannot
understand the wisdom of our actions while still children, when they
grow up they will thank us from the bottom of their hearts for
loving them enough to do what we had to do insure their future
happiness.
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If you have problems about drugs, alcohol and
behavior/attitude call my office at 8206107 or 8251771 or e-mail me
at gvcbuenca@vasia.com or write me at P.O. Box 2099 MCPO, Makati
City.
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