{"id":147,"date":"2011-01-28T14:30:12","date_gmt":"2011-01-28T18:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.2soar.info\/word\/?p=147"},"modified":"2011-01-28T14:30:12","modified_gmt":"2011-01-28T18:30:12","slug":"two-loving-parents-who","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/2011\/01\/28\/two-loving-parents-who\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Loving Parents Who…."},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve never had the honor or privilege of being a parent, nor have I had the aggravation or lament that comes with being a parent.\u00a0 <\/span>I have, however, had the great fortune to know several wonderful parents; family and friends of mine who have raised fine upstanding children.\u00a0 <\/span>One in particular is raising several children of varying ages at a time of great unrest in her life.\u00a0 <\/span>She has sorted things out so beautifully I thought, with her permission, I\u2019d share her conclusions.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Our children need TWO loving parents who\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Are present and allow them to be themselves, making their own mistakes \u2013 even the same mistakes over and over until they learn.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Understand that they\u2019ve made plenty of mistakes over and over and probably will continue to do so\u2026until they, too, learn.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Make them feel safe enough to tell the truth \u2013 the truth about something they may have done terribly wrong or the truth about something that may seem minor to them \u2013 such as breaking curfew or forgetting a chore<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Understand that we, too, forget stuff at times and are willing to imagine ourselves in their shoes<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Make them feel important and that their opinions are valid \u2013 even if a 6 year old has an opinion that makes no sense in a grown up world<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Leave the lines of communication open \u2013 for useless facts that they just feel the need to say or major events that affect their lives.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Don\u2019t leave them with emotions they may never have experienced before.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Don\u2019t blame themselves every time one of their children make a mistake, are less than perfect or needs extra help<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Don\u2019t turn every issue into something other than what it is \u2013 stay focused on the issue and don\u2019t overdo it<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Fight or argue in front of them, but take immediate accountability for their actions, helping them understand that even people who love each other have disagreements and it\u2019s not always the end of the world.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Pay attention to them when they have something to say \u2013 or even when they aren\u2019t looking<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Catch them doing something good or right more often than when they do something wrong.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Are selfless \u2013 enough to take control of themselves in the midst of chaos and pay attention to the most important truths \u2013 love and protection of your children<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Teach them how to be strong \u2013 by example, not just with words<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Are willing to go to any lengths to protect them and their home<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Make mistakes and love themselves enough to accept them \u2013 so the children can learn to love themselves as well if they make mistakes<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Are proud of them and everything they are capable of \u2013 not who are always angry at their shortcomings<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Love each other honestly and safely<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Are at peace with themselves and the world around them<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Can teach them about God and the power of prayer<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Our children are all amazing and they deserve to be peaceful, happy and proud of who they are and where they come from.\u00a0 <\/span>I know that it is my job to make them feel that way.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

As their parent, I deserve to feel that way too.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve never had the honor or privilege of being a parent, nor have I had the aggravation or lament that comes with being a parent.\u00a0 I have, however, had the great fortune to know several wonderful parents; family and friends … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-the-company-of-women-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p27hQ5-2n","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}