Stress is a part of all of our daily lives, however what usually makes or breaks us is how we deal with our stress. We may not realize it but sometimes the stress that we deal with daily can be transferred over to our children. I was watching the news one day and they were doing a story called "Is anybody listening?" It was about a group of children in a California school who were feeling stressed because they saw what their parents were going through in these tough economic times. Their teacher brought a camcorder to class and let them sit down and talk about what they were going through in their lives. Many of the children broke down and cried, explaining how it bothered them to see their parents struggle to make ends meet or pay their mortgages. Unfortunately, many of the parents didn't know that their children felt this way because they had never talked about it.
One thing is for certain and should always be a part of our parental thinking: Our children are watching and listening, even when we think that they are not. Whether you want to or not, its a good idea to promote some kind of conversation to get a feel of what's on our children's minds.
A part of good parenting is protecting our children from seen and unseen danger, even if that danger is residing within us. Let me use an example that many of us can probably relate to. I grew up in a poor family with five other siblings, I never realized that we were poor until I became an adult. (Kudos to my parents.) While growing up I never witnessed, or maybe I just didn't pay it any attention, my parents struggling or fighting over bills. Now I'm sure that this probably did take place, however they did everything in their power not to make it the childrens concern, in other words all I had to be worried about was being a kid and making good grades in school.
Being a child in today's world seems to carries a bit more youthful stress than in my younger day's. Because of the advancement in technology and the exposure that the internet gives to certain topics. It makes it more challenging to block access to content that our children may not be ready for. But there's one thing that we must keep in mind... if we are to be good stewards over our children, And that is we must do everything that we can to keep our stress out of their young lives.
One thing is for certain and should always be a part of our parental thinking: Our children are watching and listening, even when we think that they are not. Whether you want to or not, its a good idea to promote some kind of conversation to get a feel of what's on our children's minds.
A part of good parenting is protecting our children from seen and unseen danger, even if that danger is residing within us. Let me use an example that many of us can probably relate to. I grew up in a poor family with five other siblings, I never realized that we were poor until I became an adult. (Kudos to my parents.) While growing up I never witnessed, or maybe I just didn't pay it any attention, my parents struggling or fighting over bills. Now I'm sure that this probably did take place, however they did everything in their power not to make it the childrens concern, in other words all I had to be worried about was being a kid and making good grades in school.
Being a child in today's world seems to carries a bit more youthful stress than in my younger day's. Because of the advancement in technology and the exposure that the internet gives to certain topics. It makes it more challenging to block access to content that our children may not be ready for. But there's one thing that we must keep in mind... if we are to be good stewards over our children, And that is we must do everything that we can to keep our stress out of their young lives.
