As our children have married and had their own children we thought they would know what to do, that they would raise their children as they were raised. Why would they do it any differently as we did such a great job? In our opinion! But over the last few years they have asked for help. What did we do? What would we do in this situation? It dawned on us that they experienced our philosophy of childrearing and they are the product of it, hopefully also the beneficiaries of it too, but they were not students of it as they grew up. They didn’t study it. They lived it. So now that they are raising children they have to develop their own philosophy.
Do we have a philosophy of childrearing? You betcha! That’s what we share with you in the blogs and is the basis of our book, 24 Secrets to Great Parenting, as well as the DVD, 8 Questions Parents Want Answered.
Bonnie and I spent many hours developing our philosophy over coffee breaks starting even before we had children. We would discuss what we would like to see in our children’s character and behaviour. Sometimes that would be a process of thinking through what we would do as a reaction to what we had just witnessed by some child. We’d say, “I don’t want my child to do that. So what will we do to not have them behave like that? What would be appropriate?” Then we would labour away coming up with ideas and suggestions as to what we might do. The agreed course of action became our philosophy.
Philosophy is not only an academic study devoted to the systematic examination of basic concepts such as truth, existence, reality, causality, and freedom taught at university. It also means a set of beliefs or aims underlying somebody's practice or conduct.
Do you have such a philosophy regarding your children? You don’t have to call it a philosophy to have one. Do you know what you are going to do in different situations? Do you know what character traits you want to establish in your children’s lives? Or is the whole idea a foreign concept to you? Do you think doing the right thing with your children will come naturally like breathing?
Most businesses have a philosophy that they adhere to; it contains their mission and their attitude towards customers. Schools have philosophies that they want to see consistently applied by their staff. In many ways it’s like a manual of good business practises.
I have a friend who ended up as the supervisor of a department in a grocery store. He had never worked in this type of position before, nor had he worked for this company before. When he was unsure of what to do he looked for their operational manual. They didn’t have one as the practises where passed on from manager to staff verbally. If you didn’t work in that particular capacity with the firm, you were clueless as to what they expected or as to what to do. He then set about writing a manual for them to make it easier in the future for new hires that didn’t work their way up the organisation.
If businesses will do this, why wouldn’t we give the time and thought to do the same for our family. Why simply let life happen and hope for the best? Why not take action and create the kind of future you want to see for your family? It truly is worth the time and effort. It’s also good for your marriage by spending time together talking about one of the most important things in your life.
(image courtesy of t0zz @ FreeDigitalPhotos.net)
Do we have a philosophy of childrearing? You betcha! That’s what we share with you in the blogs and is the basis of our book, 24 Secrets to Great Parenting, as well as the DVD, 8 Questions Parents Want Answered.
Bonnie and I spent many hours developing our philosophy over coffee breaks starting even before we had children. We would discuss what we would like to see in our children’s character and behaviour. Sometimes that would be a process of thinking through what we would do as a reaction to what we had just witnessed by some child. We’d say, “I don’t want my child to do that. So what will we do to not have them behave like that? What would be appropriate?” Then we would labour away coming up with ideas and suggestions as to what we might do. The agreed course of action became our philosophy.
Philosophy is not only an academic study devoted to the systematic examination of basic concepts such as truth, existence, reality, causality, and freedom taught at university. It also means a set of beliefs or aims underlying somebody's practice or conduct.
Do you have such a philosophy regarding your children? You don’t have to call it a philosophy to have one. Do you know what you are going to do in different situations? Do you know what character traits you want to establish in your children’s lives? Or is the whole idea a foreign concept to you? Do you think doing the right thing with your children will come naturally like breathing?
Most businesses have a philosophy that they adhere to; it contains their mission and their attitude towards customers. Schools have philosophies that they want to see consistently applied by their staff. In many ways it’s like a manual of good business practises.
I have a friend who ended up as the supervisor of a department in a grocery store. He had never worked in this type of position before, nor had he worked for this company before. When he was unsure of what to do he looked for their operational manual. They didn’t have one as the practises where passed on from manager to staff verbally. If you didn’t work in that particular capacity with the firm, you were clueless as to what they expected or as to what to do. He then set about writing a manual for them to make it easier in the future for new hires that didn’t work their way up the organisation.
If businesses will do this, why wouldn’t we give the time and thought to do the same for our family. Why simply let life happen and hope for the best? Why not take action and create the kind of future you want to see for your family? It truly is worth the time and effort. It’s also good for your marriage by spending time together talking about one of the most important things in your life.
(image courtesy of t0zz @ FreeDigitalPhotos.net)
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