Before you head out to buy the latest "How-To" manual on childrearing, how about sitting down and reminiscing on some old fashioned, practical tips that built generations of serious minded, productive and respectful young people. There really is nothing new under the sun.
1. Instead of buying store-bought toys and gadgets, provide your children with lots of "junk" toys to exercise their creativity. Many a Christmas celebration has found this truth tested and tried! You can buy your child the nicest, shiniest, most expensive toy but give them the box and the paper and they will have a blast a lot longer! Avoid play things that stifle a child's creativity and limits their imagination. There are some good "functional" toys that children need, such as a metal truck for a boy and play dishes and dolls for a girl. These kinds of toys help nurture creativity in the right areas. Remember: No child can play with piles and piles of plastic toys all in similar colors and noises for very long. THEY ALL BECOME BORING.
2. The more time you spend doing things together with your child, the fewer discipline problems you will have to deal with. When a child looks up to a parent, they want to please that parent. He doesn't want to rebel against his best buddy! Spend time reading books, cooking in the kitchen, investigating the backyard for bugs and other interesting critters. Take time out of your life to build a memory that will develop a
well adjusted, child. Be careful not to be a "herder" of children. They are children,
not cattle.
3. Keep the sugar and junk food out of the house. If they never have it, they will not crave it and whine for it. Touch their palate early with only "real" food and you will find that they enjoy vegetables and fruits a whole lot more than artificial flavors. If your Johnny or Julie doesn't like what is on the table, let him go without until the next meal. A short fasting time helps every human body and it is a good training time for your growing child.
4. Keep Hollywood out of your home. It might be easier for you to pick a DVD and pop it in as entertainment for your children, but why would you want to sit your child down in front of a screen to hear Hollywood's kind of music, attitudes, sneakiness, unkind speech, and philosophies? Your children's thinking should be molded and formed by the Word of God and good Christian examples….not by Hollywood's perverted actors and actresses.
Every parent needs a vision for their family that is bigger than the here and now. Think of the future. You are preparing them for eternity.
From the beginning of time, every parent has born sons and daughters in their own image. Think about that…. If Adam and Eve begat sons and daughters in their own image, then every parent since then, has done the same. As our children bear the image of their earthly parents, we must train them to bear the image of the Heavenly Father. We have God's given resource (His Word) and His ever true promises to help us in this eternal cause.
Your greatest enemy in this cause will be yourself. But…"greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world." I John 4:4.
I Corinthians 15:58 "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."
Rearing children is the greatest "work of the Lord" you will ever do!
2 comments:
Terrific! I passed it on. Emilie
The principles learned here are worth the effort of putting them to practice. Everything comes out--in the end----when the kids grow up. It's so worth the effort when they turn out with an appetite for spiritual things!
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