Lessons for my children

Being a “good parent” is a broad and hard statement to pull off.

What does being a “good parent” even really look like? If you don’t get specific with that, it is an onerous and difficult path ahead to trying to fulfil that label.

To me being a “good parent” is showing them how much I love them unconditionally, being there for them when they need me and teaching them as many important lessons as I can.

Ultimately, all I want for them is happiness but as we all well know that is something you can aim for but it is not realistic for someone to be happy all the time.

With all this in mind I have some key lessons and messages that I am trying to teach my kidlets, which I have shared below.

Love yourself - be proud of who you are.

I want them to feel confident and proud of who they are. I never want them to feel as though they need to change themselves for someone else or even need to hide away parts of who they are. I want them to own who they are and what they want and to chase after it. At the end of the day it is their life and I want them to live it in a way that makes them happy and fulfilled.

Love to learn.

I am trying to instil in them a love for learning. To be comfortable with not being the smartest person in the room and having to learn and try new things. I don’t want them to shy away from things that are different, unknown or have the potential for failure. I want them to grasp those situations with two hands, see it as an opportunity to learn and enjoy the process. I want them to know that if they put their minds to it they can achieve anything and they will have my support the whole way.

Treat all people with respect and kindness.

You never know what someone is going through, and I want my children to be aware of that. To treat all people with the same level of respect and kindness irrespective of what they have, who they are or what they do and instead just base it on the fact they are a human being just like us. I want them to understand that any form of violence, emotional or physical, is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

As I said earlier, the lessons could just keep going for days but at the end of the day all I want for them is that they are happy, healthy and loved. It’s not too much to ask, is it?