Things You Already Know, But May Not Be Doing
I Parenting REMINDERS
My mother had a saying growing up, “Repetition is KEY!” People in general do NOT like being taught lessons they already know. Most of the lessons we have learned throughout our life we don’t use until certain situations remind us of that particular lesson. This isn’t from the fact of not knowing what to do, but rather that life keeps us so busy and distracted that we react instead of assessing and remembering.
We all know that we control our children’s eating habits, for example, and it is very important in doing so. Parents tend to let life step in the way, which makes that TV dinner easy instead of the 4 course meal. Here are some things you already know…A reminder never hurts.
Eating Habits
A good starting point is what was mentioned above, eating habits. McDonald’s is NOT a healthy choice for dinner for anyone, much less your child. You already know this. I am not saying that McDonald’s on a Friday night out is by no means a bad thing. That Big Mac for lunch Wednesday and dinner Friday, combined with that McGriddle for breakfast Monday probably isn’t the healthiest of all diets. We see this far too much! Parent’s are either lazy or exhausted and take the easy route, instead of making meals at home. Childhood obesity effects 1 in every 5 children according to https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/index.html. I am sure some of these children have a disability or an issue with their health that will cause them to be overweight. I am not referring to overweight in the sense of a scale measurement, but rather the measurements of their body (aka: stomach, neck, thighs).
More so than not, eating habits and lack of activity encouraged and forced on by parents are the leading causes of this sad issue. I encourage you to remember on a daily to encourage or even force physical activity, along with a more healthy diet for your little ones.
The Importance of Education
Most of us grew up with our education being the forefront of importance being preached to us. Then why, as parents, do we not invest everything we can into our child’s education? If not our finances for more prestigious schools, then our time and effort would be more than enough to instill the desire to learn into our child’s mind. We know why education is important! I have personally seen parents give their children the answers to homework questions instead of teaching them how to solve the problem. Parents tend to not ingrain themselves in the daily activities of what occurred at school and what was learned. Do you know what your child knows and doesn’t know? If you said yes to this, then I urge you to go pick their brain for the next hour…you may be surprised.
Education and learning in general will help in life and in a career. If your child doesn’t know what something is or how something works, don’t just let them watch you do it without explanation. If they don’t ask, take it upon yourself to break that life lesson or activity down so they will know how and why something is the way it is and how it works. Knowledge is power, for the CEO all the way to the factory line worker.
Take Responsibility
In general, there’s nothing that can be said that will enable you to enact on the lessons you’ve learned that will help better your child’s life other than your own desire to do so. TAKE RESPONSIBIILTY! Take responsibility in teaching your child the morals you learned growing up, the importance of first impressions, cleanliness, education, wellness and health, and life lessons that haven’t been skewed from an unusual or excessive circumstance.
One of the issues with the age we live in is people have become very extreme one way or the other instead of understanding that the middle ground is usually the best place to compromise and become a community instead of attacking one another. Take responsibility in teaching your children the difference and open their eyes that life will NEVER be one way or the other and to see the bigger picture. Becoming victims instead of controlling their own destiny will not bring your child any justice when trying to build their future. YOU will be the focal point for these lessons. So remember and assess instead of just reacting. You already know all of this…Just do it.
