The topic for today’s post is a bit of an odd one, yet really important. This took me a whole lot longer to write then I thought it would. I hope I have put together a good read for you. “Why its important to share your beliefs with your children.” Confidence Security Closeness Understanding These are all great reasons, but the best one is that our beliefs are important to us and so are our children. Even better you’ve already done it. Children are always watching and observing. For me, my beliefs come out when I bake and entertain and when I point things out as we bike ride or hike. Now lets talk about these four ideas I mentioned earlier: CONFIDENCE: I believe that my children are more confident in themselves and how they deal with others because they see their father and I demonstrating our beliefs. For instance, my kids LOVE going to church with their grandma. She’s presbyterian and we aren’t. Sure they come home with questions and ideas, so we’ve made a little ritual of talking with them afterwards. (Could be hours or days) they ask their questions and we do our best to answer them or help them find their own answer. My son (who is now 10) has the confidence to have religious discussions with his friends and understand that they both have different beliefs. SECURITY: Lets face it this is the largest worry for most of us. (Especially if your in a hostile location) is our children’s safety and our own. Kids say things and sometimes its in a non friendly place. If we don’t teach our kids because of fear. Then we tie beliefs and religion to fear and teach them that ours is wrong. That doesn’t make it easier, in fact this is the hardest one to deal with. CLOSENESS: One of the basic things that brings us close to our family is participating in similar rituals or ideas. Setting the table for dinner, playing a game together, bedtime stories. Anything and everything that we do in the same space with each other helps us understand one another. That understanding will bring us closer together. That closeness will help us in those tough days and years when parents can’t understand just what their child is thinking. UNDERSTANDING: I hope that by starting my kids with my beliefs, helping them explore my parents and friends beliefs and their own curiosity; will make them stronger and more understanding when choosing their own. Even more, I hope that it helps then be more tolerant and understanding of others beliefs and that together this tolerance will build a stronger, kinder world for them. But mostly, I hope it helps us ALL get through those teen years with healthier views of what my kids are trying. That it also shows my kids that even though they might try something I don’t know about, I hope they will believe that I am willing to listen, give them benefit of the doubt and believe in them and their choices. T.S.
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July 2015
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