Boy, do I remember when my kids were growing up! The fear that I would mess it all up, or do it wrong, or later they would have to be on a therapists couch (because of me!!). 😲
One thing I knew (gleaning from my own teen years), is that we don’t do something because someone “Said so!!”. Teens have this need to “Find something to beleive in” and if you don’t help them find it, someone else will!
I had reflected on this, in my early years, and knew we do what we do, because we actually BELIEVE in Something. When I was a teenage, I had a poster on my wall that said “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it, if you can dream it, you can become it.”
Could I really become anything I wanted to be? Perhaps not, but the belief I could (at the time) was highly important to me. Let your child discover their limitations, and be there to catch them (with Love) when they don’t quite make it to the goal.
It’s important to plant seeds, (and use every opportunity to teach life lessons if and when we can). Kids have a need to be inspired, over things being “required” of them. Requirements work for a season, but if you inspire them, it will probably last for life! Planting seeds involves introducing concepts, versus slamming down the gavel of learning and saying “This is how it must always be done!!”
If you want your kids to lean on God, let them see you are leaning on God. If you want them to pray, let them see you praying about things (real life problems). Let them know you’ve had disappointments too & be real with them!
If you want your kids to be great, find what is great in them and cultivate that, water it, and trust God to make it grow!
Help them to understand (as much as possible) why you are doing certan things and why it’s important. It’s a full time job! (but it’s worth it).
I loved being a mother. Now I love being a Grandma too!
It truly is…….
“The Best job on Earth”…..😊With Love,Laura Grace