Ten Personal Lessons Learned In Raising Kids
Note: These 10 personal lessons learned are a tongue-in-cheek appraisal of what Moms of Cuddlebugs can expect now and in the years ahead.
1. Spending time with my children means more than what I bought at Toys-R-Us last Thursday
2. Tucking them in at night requires a brief show-and-tell and a 20-minute Q&A session – so clear your schedule.
3. Children will tell your business at the Wal-Mart checkout – forcing you to pretend you forgot an item and leave a long line to retrieve anything.
4. Children do not obey the rule – if the bathroom door is closed, do not come in – and barge in only to quickly inform you that you do look funny naked, and then leave.
5. You will cry when you overhear your child praying and they don’t know you’re there.
6. You will receive a call from the school that your son is harboring a family of lizards in his desk.
7. Your children do worry when you are sick – mainly because dad’s in charge.
8. Weeds and other strange plant-type items – are flowers.
9. Your children will use their spy gear against you. Think twice about purchasing such items. And finally …
10. If you decide to snoop in your teenager’s book bag to catch him doing something wrong, find a paper he wrote about heroes in his life, read it and discover he wrote about you – don’t be too ashamed. Carefully put everything back without a word – and relish the moment.
What personal lessons have you learned so far as you begin to raise your kids?
Number one is my personal favorite (:
Hi Sarah!
I agree. As moms it’s so easy to substitute our time with toys since often … guilt gets the best of us. Nothing is more important to our children than the time we spend with them. This “time” doesn’t have to mean we completely clear our schedule and ignore the activities that keep the family running. It could be 30 minutes of quality that is individualized to the child. Kids will grow up – sooner than later – and what they will carry with them is not the latest and greatest toy we bought them when they were 7. What they will take with them are the memories of time spent with mom and dad. These memories are examples of the parents we hope they become. Hence, the cycles of positive parenting are then established for future generations.
My thought . . It’s ok to play with your kids. They are the few folks in your life that will never tell you to grow up and act your age. Play!