Raising Children of Character
Raising children of character requires time and attention. While having children may be simple being a good parent is much more complicated. Here are some tips to help your children build sturdy characters. It starts off during the toddler stage and carries over into their adulthood years.Tips on How to Build Good Character In Your Children. - Parenting should come FIRST. This is hard to do in a world with so many competing demands. Good parents consciously plan and devote time to parenting. They make raising children of character important.
- Time. Review how you spend your time. Think about the amount of quality time your children spend with you and vice versa.
- Be a Positive example to your children. I am an advocate about being an example. Your children will learn from you by watching you as parents. In fact, you can’t avoid being an example to your children, whether good or bad. Being a good example, then, is probably your most important job.
- Make it a priority to see what your children are absorbing. Children are like sponges. Much of what they take in has to do with moral values and character. Books, songs, TV, the Internet, and movies are continually delivering messages to our children. As parents we must control the flow of ideas and images that are influencing raising children.
- Use the Language of Character. Children cannot develop a moral compass unless people around them use the clear, sharp language of right and wrong. You also need to avoid foul language. What example are you? If you use foul language but then have the nerve to discipline your child if they repeat what they have heard.
- Punish with a loving heart. Today, punishment has a bad reputation. The results are guilt-ridden parents and self-indulgent, out-of-control children. Children need limits. They will ignore these limits on occasion. Children must understand what punishment is for and know that its source is parental love.
- Listen to your children. It is easy for us to tune out the talk of our children. One of the greatest things we can do for them is to take them seriously and set aside time to listen. I have amazing conversations with my 4 year old son. He loves to just sit and talk with me. It reinforces they are important and that what they have to say we want to hear.
- Get deeply involved in your child’s school life. School is the main event in the lives of our children. Their experience there is a mixed bag of triumphs and disappointments. How they deal with them will influence the course of their lives. Helping our children become good students is another name for helping them acquire strong character.
- Start having Family Meals Together. A sad reality in America is the dying of the family meal. The dinner table is a great place for the teaching and passing on of our values. Manners and rules are subtly absorbed over the table. Family mealtime should communicate and sustain ideals that children will draw on throughout their lives.
We need to create an environment in which our children can develop habits of honesty, generosity, and a sense of justice. For most of us, the greatest opportunity we personally have to deepen our own character is our struggle to be good parents. Raising children with character can be a rewarding experience for the entire family.
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