Should we expect our children to behave? NO.
Should we discipline our children? NO.
So therefore, we should simply ignore them when they are misbehaving. Right? NO.
We should GUIDE our children instead of disciplined them. By GUIDANCE, they will learn how to do things right and not how to avoid bad things to happen.
Disciplining is merely giving a child a terms and conditions that he needs to forcefully follow every single day.
We (parents) want our kids to stick to their minds our RULES and that they should live with it. If they do not follow, they'll be punished.
This will never teach children to decide on their own when they grow up.
And ignoring our children will also not teach them a lesson. Children are asking us to talk to them, to be with them and to understand them.
Children have so many rights that many parents today have never wanted to learn about.
Being a parent, I should not stop from just being a dad. I have so many things to learn and many things to make up.
Everyday is a new exploration. A life in which I try to live by example,
so that when the time comes they are ready to start their own families, I can say this to them;
"You're done being my son, but I am not done being your father."
How about praising them or giving them rewards when they do things that pleased us or made us proud?
More about this soon.
* This Illustration is my quick rendition of Dr. Louise Porter's book "Children are people too" and inspired by Peter MacMullin's art.
