12 Commandments for Parenting
Teaching and educating our children is one of the primary responsibilities that we face as mothers. It’s one of the most important jobs we will ever do and ironically it’s also probably the one that will come with the least training before we begin. Thank goodness for parenting books and wise women who have gone before us! Here are the 12 Commandments for parenting from moms who have “been there, done that”.
1. Do not underestimate your child –He can understand more than you think he does. When you underestimate your child, you teach them to underestimate themselves and this can have negative effects on their development and self esteem.
2. Don’t use threats – A child loves a challenge and once threatened he might probably go on and do what he wasn’t suppose to just to see if he can escape the punishment. A parenting expert once said it is our job to set boundaries, it is the child’s job to test those boundaries. Threats will not stop most young child, they will motivate them to try to get away with it.
3. Do not bribe your child. – If you are trying to get him to learn for money for example, he will fail to understand the importance of learning, all he will get from this is the importance of money.
4. Do not make a small child promise something. – Small children can’t hold promises so don’t force them to lie and then punish them because they break that promise.
5. Do not keep them under a short leash. – To grow up normally children need some space, some freedom. Children must be allowed to make choices within their current age and maturity levels, and must be allowed to face the consequences of those choices in order to learn.
6. Do not use big words or too many words when you are talking to your child. – Keep your ideas simple and concise so he can understand every thing you have to say.
7. Do not expect an immediate and blind obedience. – It is not recommended, the child has to be learned to think for his own not to just follow orders. It is important to teach our children how to questions things they do not understand in a respectful and acceptable manner.
8. Do not indulge him too much. – He can develop compartmental disorders.
9. Do not compromise when it comes to the rules of a game. – The trick for a game to become educative is too have its initial rules respected.
10. Don’t impose rules that don’t go with the age of your child.
11. Do not try to inflict guilt. – Guilt is not an appropriate feeling for children, especially if they are little. Instead, help your child to understand why they should not do what they did while making sure they know they are loved and forgiven.
12. Don’t give your child orders that you don’t take seriously. – Your child will try to please you and giving him an order is drastic, and it becomes cruel if that order is a joke. Asking your child to do something you know they are not capable of without help will undermine their confidence.
More From Crystal
