I actually laughed at myself when I gave that title to my post because I know you might be thinking what I have to say when I haven't even given birth to a child. You see that's one funny thing about life, sometimes we don't have to go through some things before we get the knowledge of them. But most people hold the belief that experience is the best teacher but then I will prefer to learn from the experiences of others instead. That aside, I do have a little something to share to help all the amazing mothers/parents in training up their child or children as the case may be.
As a child, I always loved babies, I enjoyed caring for them and playing with them and over time I've seen a lot of children and they all have one thing in common, they easily learn things that are not good for them. The painful part is some parents don't even care about it, while few do. Children are mostly quick learners especially from the age of 2-10 years old, so as parents you have to be very conscious of whatever you do in their presence and also what they are exposed to.
As children grow older, they tend to mimic certain behaviors they've seen, say words they've heard and act based on what they feel. As a mother you must have noticed all of these things but you still don't do anything about it because you are scared of making your child sad or angry with you. Well, that's understandable but do you know that it might affect both you and your child later if the things they learn at that age is not something good?
The first tip I will give is, be ATTENTIVE!!!. As parents without the ability to be attentive, then there is a big problem as children can be very cunning especially when they know they might not be doing the right thing. The place I live, there is this little baby girl, she looks so innocent but she can be really destructive when you take your eyes off her for just few seconds and when you ask her why she did that, she will want to run away. Note, she is just a year+ but she already knows she did something wrong. So as a mother, you have to be very attentive, not only in the aspect of your child's health but in every aspect.
The second tip is, be INTENTIONAL!!!. Be intentional about everything you do in the presence of your child. There are some behaviors, words and things you do and say that you have to let go of because it's just a matter of time before your child starts saying and doing those things. Take out time to spell out the mistakes of your child to him or her and also do well to appreciate them when they do something as they should, that way they will understand that there are some things that they shouldn't indulge in even when you are not watching.
The third tip is, always make sure to tell them the reason for your actions. As a parent, there are times when we discipline our children for something but most times we refuse to tell them why they were discipline because we carelessly assume they know the reason why. Well, in some cases they might be aware but then still let them know why and if possible tell them the right thing they should have done. In a case when you discipline a child without telling them the reason why or telling them the right thing they should have done, they can easily end up making the same mistake again and you might just end up disciplining them again.
Although there are cases when you give them the reasons for disciplining them but they still end up making the same mistakes, what you should try to do is sit them down and in love asked them the reason for their actions. Remember, at first you were the one who told them how to act but now, they will be the one to do so and that way you can know how to advise them and help them overcome that challenge. And note, it might take time so learn to be patient with them for some time depending on their efforts to get it right.
The last tip I will add is, ask for your child's opinion once in a while or when necessary. I've said this before in my previous posts, your child is also human too and that means they have the ability to also think and make contributions sometimes. That way, they will feel carried along and they can easily relate with you without being scared. Asking for their opinions on things will make them know they can be very free with you.
These are some little things I've learned so far from parents and also from people in general and I feel it will help any open-minded parents. As you have noticed, these tips are limited because I want to give room to you to make your contributions to the topic so I can learn more also from you. So don't hesitate to share your thoughts and comments with me, it is highly appreciated and valued.
Until next time, stay AWESOME!!!
