Recently, someone sent this to me and I thought it was worth sharing.
“We need to teach our daughters to distinguish between:
A man who flatters her, and a man who compliments her,
A man who spends money on her, and a man who invests in her,
A man who views her as property, and a man who views her properly,
A man who lusts after her, and a man who loves her,
A man who believes he is a gift to women, and a man who believes she is a
gift to him.
And then, we need to teach our sons to be that kind of man.”
I was really touched by these words, so simple yet so profound. Sometimes we forget what is really important in a relationship and inadvertently, we teach our children to lower their expectations about love. We mirror to them the wrong messages and they soak it up like a sponge. When we show them that our significant other is dispensable, someone to be bought, or property to own, we teach them to devalue themselves and others, setting them up for heartache in relationships.
Children are little souls, looking to their parents for guidance and direction. They learn in many ways, especially by example. “The apple does not fall far from the tree” is a true statement that reflects what a child has learned at home from one or both parental figures. If you want to raise a child to be kind, respectful, loving and compassionate, then you must find those qualities in yourself and model them in your own life. Having relationships in your life that reflect goodness and kindness will give your children such powerful messages that they will naturally seek to create healthy relationships in their own lives.
Children are the future, and teaching them to value themselves, to be kind and caring to others, to create equality and compassion in their relationships will change the way that they look at and operate in the world. We, as parents and grandparents have a wonderful opportunity to make a difference with our young ones by what we do and say and how we treat others, beginning with our own significant other. Let’s look at what is really important in a relationship and impart that information to our children by our own behavior, words and actions toward our wife or husband.
Children learn what they live. Set a great example.
Linda West