![]() |
Channels | ![]() |
In Focus |
Cartoons |
Education |
Environment |
Opinion |
Photo Essays |
Columns |
Business |
Random Thoughts |
Our Heritage |
Astrology |
Ayurveda |
Buddhism |
Cinema |
Culture |
Festivals |
Hinduism |
History |
People |
Places |
Sikhism |
Spirituality |
Society & Lifestyle |
Parenting |
Perspective |
Recipes |
Society |
Teens |
Women |
Creative Writings |
Computing |
Humor |
Individuality |
Literary Shelf |
Memoirs |
Quotes |
Stories |
Travelogues |
Workshop |
Parenting | Share This Page | |
Role Modeling: What Your Child Really Learns from You |
||
by Siggie Cohen |
![]() |
|
So far, nothing unusual; just one small battle of the many we endure with our children. But what did catch my attention in this scene were the sounds that both mom and daughter were making while struggling with one another. It was the exact same tone of voice; the same moan, the same whine. It was as if one was the duplicated echo of the other. What we want to understand is that when we say, "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" we mean that our children are observing and absorbing so much about us, so much of which is done subconsciously and with little awareness. And yes, they have our genes and our makeup, but most of all they acquire our behaviors. Neither we, nor them, realize how much they learn from us, and how much they imitate and copy us, and not all is good, of course. Now it might be hard to always monitor ourselves to realize when our own behavior is appropriate and when it's not; but the truth of the matter is that we don't have much choice: we need to do so. From the time we become parents our children are completely dependent on us in so many ways, one of which is learning proper behaviors. And as our responsibility is in feeding, clothing, and keeping them safe, it is in role modeling for them. Now, there really isn't any harm in whining, unless we simply don't like it. There's no need to be perfect; we simply cannot. The most we need to do is listen to ourselves and observe our own behaviors when we are raising children who look up to us. We want to remember that our children see their home as the reflection of the whole environment around them, i.e. - their home life is a micro-cosmos to the rest of the cosmos. And no, we might not always be able to change who we are, or even want to change who we are, we merely want to be honest about who we are and be able to face our own behaviors in our children when we see them. Unless, we don't like it and thus are willing to change. How many times we say to our child: "only two more minutes…" as two minutes go by -three, four, or more times? How many times we threat: "stop (or 'put this down, don't!' etc), or I will…"? The great failing in this is in our negligence to listen to ourselves. If we did, we might have asked ourselves: 'why am I saying this? I clearly don't mean it.' Let's look at some other examples:
Obviously, the list can go on and on, as all of us can check ourselves from time to time to raise our own awareness. We can see it as a second chance to re-evaluate our morals and behaviors. Many people before me have stated that children are our best teachers, as I so agree with that. The more we understand the responsibility we have in raising them, the more we become responsible in more ways all together. And raising our children "better" only makes us feel better, about them, about ourselves. In the end, we all benefit. |
||
Share This: | ||
11-Jan-2000 | ||
More by : Siggie Cohen | ||
Views: 2258 Comments: 0 | ||
| ||
Top | Parenting |
|