Three Things We Think Are Helping Our Kids (That Aren't)

 

Three Things We Think Are Helping Our Kids (That Aren't)

We want so badly to be good parents. And sometimes that wanting gets in the way.

1. Fixing their boredom. Your child says I'm bored and your first instinct is to hand them a screen or find ways to fill their time and keep them busy.  But that quiet is actually where the magic happens. Imagination lives in silence. Ingenuity is born in boredom. Let them sit with it. Something remarkable will come out of it.

2. Doing things they can do themselves. Yes, you can make the bed faster. You can pack the bag better. But when you do everything for them, you rob them of something they desperately need — the feeling of I did that. Chores and responsibilities aren't a burden. They're a gift. They tell a child: you matter here, you contribute here, you are capable. That message will carry them further than a perfectly made bed ever will.

3. Smoothing over their mistakes. This one is hard. When they mess up, every instinct says: fix it. But consequences are teachers, and if we keep dismissing the class, they miss the lesson. It's so much harder to learn it later. Let them feel it now, while you're still there to help them process it.

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And the most powerful thing you can do — Pray.

Don't give up. No matter how old they are, no matter how far they've wandered. Daven for them. You will see nachas. ♥

Photo by Ian Edokov on Unsplash