I am real big on teaching my kids through example. We try to live by do as you say and your actions speaks louder than your words way of life. I have to say though it is hard to do. I have some horrible habits and I see my kids doing the same things and I cringe but I know they learned it from me.
The one big thing my husband and I try to work on is being better people when we are out and about. We work hard at saying please and thank you and yes we do have to remind the kids to do it as well. I tell them both all the time to be nice people and in turn people will be nice to them.
My daughter seems to always get freebies when she goes out. An extra cookie at the bakery counter or just the other day a few extra pickles from the deli because she was raving about how good they were (the guy behind the counter couldn't believe she liked them so much). The kids have come home with tons of stuff and I always have to remind them to thank people for their generosity. They are rewarded because they are nice kids.
Here is the thing, I find it hard to be generous in this society. I hold doors for people or offer assistance often times being ignored or treated poorly. They always say no good deed goes unpunished and I have see it many times first hand but I try hard to ignore that ugly and just continue on. As unreceptive as people can be, it is still important to keep showing your kids to be good citizens out there,
Recently, I saw a homeless man and his daughter sitting outside of the stadium when we went to the baseball game. I had found about a month ago forty bucks on the ground and vowed to pay it forward when I saw people needed it. I have been spreading it around and had ten bucks in my pocket at that moment, so I handed it to them. I was thanked by them but more so rewarding was the response by my daughter who told me I did a good thing.
I know my kids know what doing good things are. My daughter has asked to save her allowance and lemonade money to donate. She knows that their our people out there who have less than she has and they struggle. I think it is sad that my daughter has seen more people laid off or lose their homes in her short life than I had seen in my whole life. She understands at this early age that people struggle.
It is important to set good examples from eating right to being a good person. We try to be good people and we do see it pay off. I enjoy seeing my children learn to appreciate the things they have rather than always asking for it. I try to remind them it is more important to have us all together than to have all of the latest and greatest of everything. We are working to build memories that will inspire them to be good people and to embrace those who need help in being better.
Rebecca Benson is a League City stay at home mom who has lived here since 2003 when her husband took a job on the International Space Station program. She followed soon after working on the same program for nearly six years when she started staying home with the kids. Rebecca loves to craft, scrapbook, sew, and embrace motherhood. Rebecca has a blog called Mommiedom ((http://queenmommiedom.blogspot.com/) where she talks about all the things in her life not just those “confessions”.
