Becoming a Great Parent
I was on a flight from 4 hours recently and was settling in to enjoy the ride. In front of me sat a man and woman who had two children probably ages 6 (girl) and 3(boy). When the mom told the boy to put on his seat belt he threw a fit. He screamed and told her that he didn't want the belt because it made him hot. As his mother began to try to calm him down, he screamed louder and louder. People on the plane (including me) were looking at the mother hoping she would proceed to parent her child. She didn't.
Then my eyes fasted on the dad who sat directly across with the daughter. He began to talk to the son and the son ignored him and got louder. When the father began to raise his voice getting aggravated the 6 year old daughter told him "stop screaming at him."
I saw so much wrong with this scenario that it prompted me to write this article on parenting children. Let me share a few insights with you;
1) The mother had no control over the child - When parents fail to set boundaries that their children are not allowed to cross the child tends to push the parents to the limits. I don't know why there are parents today who believe that all you need to do is talk and reason with your child. How do you reason with a 3 year old? He does not possess the mental maturity to make decisions that are rooted in logic. Children that young are ruled by how they feel.
2) The father could not threaten his son to make him change - there was a time whenever a father spoke to his children they knew they needed to listen. Many fathers never had to lay a hand on their child; all he had to do was look like he would put his hands on them and the child would change. This boy possessed no reverential fear of his father. Basically he ignored him like he did his mother.
3) The daughter did not think it was wrong to tell her brother to be quiet but to tell her father not to discipline - this took the cake for me. This daughter said nothing while her little brother made enough noise to aggravate an airplane. But when she felt like her father was going to do what parents do and discipline their children, she jumped to her brother's defense.
My heart went out to this family. I don't know if they realize the when we don't raise our children, we prepare them to be a problem for others.
Then my eyes fasted on the dad who sat directly across with the daughter. He began to talk to the son and the son ignored him and got louder. When the father began to raise his voice getting aggravated the 6 year old daughter told him "stop screaming at him."
I saw so much wrong with this scenario that it prompted me to write this article on parenting children. Let me share a few insights with you;
1) The mother had no control over the child - When parents fail to set boundaries that their children are not allowed to cross the child tends to push the parents to the limits. I don't know why there are parents today who believe that all you need to do is talk and reason with your child. How do you reason with a 3 year old? He does not possess the mental maturity to make decisions that are rooted in logic. Children that young are ruled by how they feel.
2) The father could not threaten his son to make him change - there was a time whenever a father spoke to his children they knew they needed to listen. Many fathers never had to lay a hand on their child; all he had to do was look like he would put his hands on them and the child would change. This boy possessed no reverential fear of his father. Basically he ignored him like he did his mother.
3) The daughter did not think it was wrong to tell her brother to be quiet but to tell her father not to discipline - this took the cake for me. This daughter said nothing while her little brother made enough noise to aggravate an airplane. But when she felt like her father was going to do what parents do and discipline their children, she jumped to her brother's defense.
My heart went out to this family. I don't know if they realize the when we don't raise our children, we prepare them to be a problem for others.
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