I’ve always had a soft place for children. There is something so pure about their energy, to me that energy has always represented God and the Universe.
They don’t know hate, bitterness, racism, sexism, classicism or malice until we as adults write on their clean slates.
Every day I come across an instance where I speak to an adult, who has written to my FB public page for some guidance or a friend or I just read a comment on social media and the one thing that echo’s so loudly is the way we speak to our children becomes the lens through which they view themselves.
Most times people will unknowingly be engaging with their kids and call them names, like lazy, irresponsible or sometimes it can be even worse…it could be words like stupid, irritating or even selfish. These words are soul destroying to little people and big people for that matter. Children will always live up to our expectations of them. If you expect them to fail, they will serve it up for you. If you expect bad behavior, they wont let you down either. In the same breath if you expect calm, kindness, intelligent, capable and trustworthy, they will serve that up too.
Parenting is a choice you made, every single aspect of you will get mirrored. Whether you’re a single mom, doing it all on your own or a dad who’s wife passed away, your children are your tribe, they chose you and you chose them. The least you can do to make a difference to their lives is to make them see their potential, have faith in them, affirm them and be their biggest fan. There are enough broken adults walking around for us to know that society will change for the better when we each take collective responsibility to raise children who feel loved so that they can integrate into society without a barrage of self esteem issues. There is simply nothing more rewarding than making a difference in the life of a child, especially your own. Calling your child names, insulting and degrading them is ABUSE, there is no excuse for this behavior. Stop blaming circumstances for why you can’t be kind to your children. Discipline and abuse are two very separate issues, discipline is calm, objective, it’s about teaching responsibility and accountability but with trust. Abuse is degrading, belittling, shaming, insulting and erratic and leaving a child/teenager questioning his capability and self worth. If you didn’t grow up in a home where you were treated with integrity, then learn. Love is easy.
