What We Want as Parents

Parenting is a life long job; once a parent, you have a lifelong duty as one. It is through parenting that we learn so much about both our children and ourselves. What we want the most is to raise our children right. We want to give our children the best in life. It is an extra blessing to have an appreciative child.

Ways to Raise Appreciative Children

There are several ways of raising children who will be appreciative:

Set a standard: Children do as they see. If you want a child to know how to appreciate, you must be willing to show them how to appreciate. They need to see proper role models in you; to tell them one thing and do something else yourself will lead to unwanted results.
Teach them their basic manners: The ‘thank you, please, sorry, and excuse me’ need to be taught from early on. Don’t ever think that your child is too young to learn proper manners. You need to teach them their basics from a very young age. Children are molded very easily when it comes to behavior.

Accept their slip ups: Children are human and prone to trial and error. They will fail over and over, let them. It is only through their set backs and failures that they will learn the value of what you teach them. Sometimes you have to let them learn things the hard way. If you have done your job well, you need to trust yourself enough to let your child develop and grow at his or her own pace.

Designate responsibility: If you want your child to appreciate all the hard work you invest in them and be prepared for the world at large, it is absolutely imperative that you assign responsibilities from a young age. From getting their bed done, washing their own dishes, cleaning up their room, to grabbing some grocery on their way back from school or class- do not underestimate the power of responsibility. Designate and follow up.

Don’t lose hope: Even if you don’t see your child appreciating the things in his or her life, or showing kindness and mercy, don’t give up. Children are all different and they learn things at a different pace.