Parenting: life’s greatest adventure. Parenting can be the most challenging and personally rewarding experience of a lifetime. There are many different opinions about what a good parent is. Culture, family, society, and government all want to tell us how to raise our children.
How do I decide what is best for my child’s health? There are many decisions that directly affect a child’s health. Should I vaccinate my child? Should I give my child antibiotics? Is it okay to give my child herbs and essential oils? Only you can decide what you believe is best for yourself and your family. I urge every parent to release the stereotypes of what is right and wrong and decide from your own heart what is true and best for you. Read all you can and determine for yourself what is common sense. In my experience, this leads to wonderful learning and treasured truths to live by.
I do not favor government-regulated healthcare. When the government gets involved, it sets standards and limits upon what is right for everyone. These boxes do not fit many children, and they do not support the health needs of everyone.
Our belief in the Creator as the greatest intelligence in the universe, led us to studying it's visible hand in nature; such as herbs, essential oils and foods that bring health. Along the way we began to understand the power of our thoughts, breathing, and the lifestyle we create when we put these ingredients together. These ingredients have led us to greater health and a healthy lifestyle to live by.
The foundation of every family recipe is Love, and I believe children are our greatest teachers about love. At birth they evoke images of our highest ideals and goodness. They open our hearts to possibilities; and if we are open, they offer the most opportunities to learn and teach living love in our lives.
Teaching Love. Think about the developmental steps of a child. For little ones, the learning is to listen, honor and obey their parents. Children will test us to make sure they can trust our authority. When a child throws a tantrum, they are testing our resolve. If you give into it, they are rewarded for manipulating us. If you redirect their attention to things that are positive, you show them how to keep moving productively, under your authority. This build trusts and trust is an essential ingredient in loving relationships.
Guide children to learn productive ways to have what they want. Teach respect for healthy authority. Consistency is love. Gentle, but firm authority is love. Having the patience to teach children is an expression of love.
As they grow and try new things, covering for mistakes or taking over and finishing their chores or school work for them is not love. Let them make mistakes and encourage them to face consequences. Help them take responsibility for fixing errors and show them how to make better choices in the future. This is love.
We can only teach what we live. Children do not learn by telling them what to do; they learn from the combination of our choices and words and actions. This is where our children become our greatest teachers. They call us on our hypocrisy, our inconsistencies, and weaknesses. In love, we identify the truth when we hear it from any source, including our children. We then take responsibility for our changes and we teach our children how to do the same for themselves. We have real authority when we live what we are teaching our children. Brute force does not teach love. We admit when we are learning and make mistakes, we stay in our authority as parents, and we move forward once the learning is gained.
Breathe. In every circumstance in parenting, it is always best to breathe first. Breathing releases fear, anger, and frustration. It gives us a moment to clear our mind and our perception. This helps us to “see” the situation better and respond – rather than react- to a child in ways that build good communication habits. If you get angry when something does not work out; if you get emotional and yell every time someone tells you of a mistake, you are teaching your children to fear learning. Instead, take a breath. See that this is just another learning step and help your child embrace the learning. Identify how to resolve the issues even when they include negative consequences. Focus on the learning and move on and be happy.
Healthy structures and routines build love and healthy families. Children want structure. It grounds them, gives them a rhythm to live by; and it helps them to feel safe and secure. Each family rhythm will be different according to your family’s work hours, lifestyle; and the age and developmental step of the children. What is the same for everyone is the desire to be happy, have good family relationships, healthy food, rest, exercise, and learning opportunities. Give your family a structure and routine that fits the development and learning of your family.