iKiInsight

Battling along as parents is enduring and often unrewarding. When we think we have our kids worked out, they throw another log in the middle of the road for us to trip up on.  Parenting can be exhausting and lonely at times, as in protection of our family we often feel that we can't express our concerns to others.

I've been thinking a lot about how to be a good parent recently.  It's heart wrenching when your five year old son's teacher calls you in to chat about his "wayward behaviour", and real cause to address what is going on with this child.  It seems his mother - yes me - needed to have a look at how she was parenting, and discovered a few hard truths.  

Remember the old saying, "do as I say, not as I do"?  I've determined that just doesn't work.  Well I guess if you take into the account their new found love of swearing, then it actually does work.  It's hard to scold your child for their slip of the tongue when five minutes earlier the same word fell out of your mouth.  I tentatively put my hand up in admittance to this crime.  Explaining that adults sometimes use "naughty words" doesn't quite cut it with a five year old.   So what I learnt in a not so pleasant way, is if we as parents don't live what we preach, our words will fall on deaf ears and possibly create rebellious hearts.  It is vital we impress our principles and values on our kids, and talk genuinely about them.  Our kids won't catch the truth by osmosis.  We have to talk, and not in monotones that they'll tune out, but in natural language, at natural times and in natural ways.  Like when you're kicking the ball around the back yard, reading a book or eating dinner.  Even while indulging in some iKiFit!

Unless there was an instruction manual that I missed out on at child birth, it's pretty certain we will make mistakes along our parenthood road.  Kids are kids.  We create boundaries, they test them.. and test them and test them.  But kids are resilient, and we just have to be consistent and fair in our discipline, teach our principles and overall let them know we love them.  

Equipping our kids is tough work, especially when we're not perfect ourselves.  But I think as long as we're genuine about what we believe in, our morals, and in teaching right from wrong, our kids will be empowered to be the best they can be.  

 - Thoughts by Honorable Hayley (iKi Team Member)