What is ‘The Greatest Love of All’?

Probably the majority of parents would say ‘best education!’ But is this enough? Or do children need more than just the best education? I believe that they need more! Education - that is to say traditional formal education - is very important for children but they should also receive education of living their life successfully and positively. Education of values, virtues, principles, dreams and goals! We should educate our children to follow their dreams, and help them to set goals. Our responsibility as parents does not end once we get our children into the best school, or best high school or best university....our responsibility as parents is much more beyond that. The most important gift that we can give our children is to foster their self-esteem! A child who is academically strong but lacking self-confidence might not necessarily go on to become a happy or successful adult, even though he/she is very successful and possesses all the material wealth. In a child’s formative years, we should build their confidence; give them values and ethics that will help them become more successful and positive and then let them be themselves. We ought to let them blossom in this world where they can live their own life, with their achievements or even failures because they will learn to rise up again from their mistakes. The other important gift we should give our children is our love – Unconditional Love! You might think that we all love our children to bits so how could this be a gift to them. But is this unconditional? We should teach our children to love themselves the way they are. As Whitney Houston says in her song “Learning to love yourself, is The Greatest Love of All”. This is very important for their self-esteem. If they start comparing themselves to others in a negative way then they may start feeling inferior. This is when they need our unconditional love. No matter how badly they behave, they need to know that we still love them! Of course there should be consequences of the bad behaviour. They must understand that it’s the bad behaviour that is unacceptable and not them - address the behaviour, not the child. We should remember how blessed we are to have children and overlook the things which annoy you or that you find challenging. Children need to feel secure and to know that we love them! A child who is encouraged to love him/herself as they are and accepts themselves just the way they are will be an inspiration to others. They will probably be one of the happier and more successful children! INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE: If you as parents cut corners, your children will too. If you lie, they will too. If you spend all your money on yourselves and tithe no portion of it for charities, colleges, churches, synagogues, and civic causes, your children won't either. And if parents snicker at racial and gender jokes, another generation will pass on the poison adults still have not had the courage to snuff out. MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN Children are much better imitators than they are listeners! For more information please visit our site: www.kidz4mation.com By,rnKidz4Mation