A mother is biologically as well as socially entrusted with several responsibilities when it comes to tending of her child. Often she is looked upon to take care of the moral and social development of her child single handedly, as imparting such lessons becomes a part of the role of a mother. She being the life giver is supposed to make her children perfect and abstain them from wrong doings of any sort. If there comes across a faulty behavior in the child, the blame is likely to be put on the mother’s shoulder. Therefore it becomes her duty, often naturally and other times socially instilled, to take care of the fact that her children turn into a fair social being. If you are a mother, be it to a five year old or a fifteen year old kid, you must pass on the following important life values to your child.
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Patience
Many toddlers and kids tend to run low on patience. They jump, wail, cry, throw tantrums until their wishes or demands are fulfilled. Doing so, in a while they learn how to get what they desire and the quickest way to do so becomes being fussy about it. Many mothers would succumb to the wails and sobs of their children and fulfill their demands. This is where you need to make a change. You may fulfill the wish of your kid, but refrain doing that straight away. You need to make them learn that there is nothing like instant gratification when it comes to the acquisition of goods. One must learn to wait with patience. Now, this may involve leaving them crying by themselves for a while, but it is all for a good purpose.
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Gratitude
Put your child into a habit of expressing gratitude when helped or offered a help. This is one basic courtesy that children today seem to be oblivious to. Whenever somebody offers them a candy or compliments them for something, make sure that your child expresses his/her thankfulness to the person. It is just a simple yet a very imperative virtue that we are talking about here. Being haughty and arrogant can put your child in the bad books of the social circle that s/he lives in. On the other hand being full of gratitude would make them a sober and a humble person. The choice is pretty simple.
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Honesty
It starts with a tender age and if not stopped, goes on to the latter life of the kid. If your child gets used to lying, it would slowly become a habit. Nip it in the bud before it becomes unmanageable. Condemn and if necessary reprimand your kid as well if you catch him putting forth a shameless lie. The kid needs to know that hiding the truth is worse in itself and trying to hide it would complicate the matters more. Express it to your child how he has hurt you by not letting you know the truth. Kids at a tender age are rather keen on collecting the appreciation of their parents. However be sure not to be very reprimanding for that might turn your child into a rebel or worse a recluse.
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Sympathy
It is very important that you instill in your child the ability to be sympathetic especially if you have a boy. It is often seen that little boys are barely able to be sympathetic, leave alone being able to express it. You have to take special care while tending to your son to make sure that he is fairly sympathetic to those in misery and trouble around him. Emotional quotient is counted upon today after all.
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Helping
See to it that your child is quick to help those in need, no matter how small the situation might be. Ask her/him to help you in the household chores. Start demanding their involvement in the little possible chores of the house from an early age. That would be a stepping stone to imbibe the quality of being helpful. Ask them to run small errands. It could be anything; helping an elderly at home polish their shoes or helping in watering the plants in the garden. The main motive behind is to make them feel and be useful rather than sitting and whining about trivial issues.
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Respect
You certainly will not want your little one to turn into an obnoxious teenager and one who has no ethics of paying respect to the elders. From a very tender age start asking them to talk nicely and with respect to the elders of the house. The elders must be inclusive of every household member, be it grandparents or the aged gardener. Make his words and actions sincere and respectful of the seniors present in the house.
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Responsibility
Your kid would emerge as a responsible being only if you start giving him/ her certain responsibilities. You cannot choose to be oblivious to the fact that one day your children will have to take care of a family as well as balance a career. That would involve some serious dedication and responsible attitude on their part. So, let them not laze around aimlessly simply frolicking around. Start making them accustomed to a share of their responsibilities too. It however does not imply that you have to mar their childhood in any way.
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Determination
Let them not give up very easily. Make them understand that success and failure are the two sides of the same coin and the two go hand in hand. Being naïve and inexperienced to the ways of the world, your child would be likely to get disheartened at having faced her/his first failure. Cheer them up and their spirits. Become the source of their determination and expose them to the virtue of hardwork and dedication.
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Consideration
It is very seldom that we come across people who are truly considerate of others’ feelings and emotions. Won’t you want your child to be one amongst them? Being considerate of others’ feelings would present her/ him as a very thoughtful social being. A part to achieve this becomes mastering the art of social filter whereby one’s thoughts and ideas needs to be checked before presenting. In order to do so, you need to pay close attention to the thought process of your child and how are they being put in words. One’s words can be meaningful, without being spiteful.
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Love
Teach your kid the significance of love and care, how it can be truly impactful in one’s life. Have a very loving environment at your home. Even if you condemn or reprimand his/her wrong deeds, make sure to let them know that you do love them still.
Always remember that a child will learn what s/he picks up from her/his family, especially her/his mother. Home becomes the first school of one’s life and a mother the first teacher.