Thursday, July 20, 2017

Raising A Good Kid

Two of my boys are teenagers, I worry about them making good choices every day. I've been thinking a lot about how to raise a good kid lately.

Honestly, I don't have any idea. We're winging it for sure!  And I know that just because my boys have made good choices in the past doesn't guarantee they will continue to make good choices. Even writing this post makes me nervous, I don't want to presume that I know what I'm doing or that my boys are angels.  They aren't.  None of us are.

16 years in education has also lead to these thoughts. I've met lots of great kids and their parents.  Many of the great parents have these 3 things in common as well.

Here's what I've been thinking...

1. Talk about your walk with Christ - Exposing them to church is awesome but you really multiple that impact when you talk to your kids about your walk with Christ.  We talk about what we're praying about.  When we all rode to school together we'd listen to a Bible Study podcast on the way.    Whatever you decide to do, just jump in. Make sure your kids know that Jesus loves them and has a plan for them.  Make sure they know God and Jesus aren't just for Sundays at church. Kids need to know right from wrong.  They need to believe in something greater than themselves.

2. Make them do things they don't want to do - this one can be fun.  Torturing your children for fun! You know the drill - make them eat their vegetables, clean their room, stuff like that.  It can also be things like a 'no headphones in the car' rule.  This year we had to make Zac do a couple of things he didn't want to do but he ended up loving it.  Going to the middle school dance and cheering at Powder Puff game specifically.  You can also gang up with your mom friends to make entire groups of children miserable. ;)

3. Help them do the things they really want to do - I guess the first step here are to help them set goals.  We ask the boys to set grade goals each year.  Then when they are slacking off during the year, we remind them of their goals and help them get on track.  The older boys also have athletic goals that we try to help them meet.  Sometimes this goal seeps into #2 because we make them things do things they don't want to do in service of the goals they've set.

There are a lot of other things that go into raising good kids.  These 3 have just been on my mind lately.  What are your thoughts?

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