As a parent, you have a duty to educate your child. You’re not looking to teach them the lessons they learn in school, though – you’re looking to teach them how to be a good person. Below are a handful of lesson lessons that can be taught to your children not through lectures but rather through action.
Financial Responsibility
Most people don’t know how to be financially responsible unless someone tells them what to do. Your children are constantly exposed to a world that encourages to spend, so you need to set an example of how to save. Let your children see you balancing your checkbook, checking prices, and making smart shopping decisions. Be frank with your children about the money you save and what it’s like to deal with debt – those lessons will mean a great deal to them in the future.
Working Hard
Children also need positive examples of what it’s like to work hard. Let your children come to work with you one day, or have them assist you on a project. Show them that hard work really pays off, whether it’s through producing something useful or through the rewards you get from that job. If your children can see the link between a good work ethic and a better life, they’re more likely to exhibit the same behavior themselves.
Charity
It is also worthwhile to teach your children about charity. Spending some time discussing the importance of something like a child cancer donation charity can be meaningful, but it’s even more important for your children to see you give. Make sure you involve them in the process of giving money and let them see you donate your time as well. Doing so helps to make charity seem more like a part of daily adult life.
Healthy Emotional Responses
You are the model for your child’s emotions. If your children see you modeling healthy emotional responses, they are more likely to do so themselves. If you are upset, talk out your problems. If you are sad, express yourself. Let your children know how you are feeling and why you are reacting the way you react. If you can be a role model for this kind of behavior, your children will be able to follow in your footsteps.
Try to remember that you are your child’s most important role model. Demonstrate the things that are important to you so that those things will be important to your children. The lessons you teach them today will stay with them for their whole lives.
