Ok…here we are again with another installment of the the D.D.C. (To read part 1, click here.)
I covered a lot of information in the first installment, so I thought I would do something different here. I want to share 4 principles we have shared with our daughter that we hope will help her throughout her life.
- Know Who Loves You and Who You Love. Our daughter is a very emotional little girl and thrives on knowing people love her. I have never not told her at least 3 times a day that I love her and I am so proud of her. It is important that our daughters know that we love them. Say it and show it!!! On top of that we have always let her know hour much God loves her. Kids are funny, they will generally love in the same way that they feel loved. We do have to discipline, but our house is a very healthy balance between love and discipline. And it all starts with Dad!!
- Core Values. It is never too early to teach our kids about core values. We have taught our daughter what core values are and helped her develop her own. She has developed; respect, honesty, hard work, and leadership as her main four. She knows these and we work on developing these every day. We apply these to school, relationships, cleaning her room, etc…but guess what? If you have not communicated your core values to your kids then how will they develop their own?
- Speaking of Leadership. Ok, I am a leadership geek. Unfortunately for my family many times, they have to listen to my speeches on the subject. But I think the earlier we can help develop our children to be true leaders then the less likely they are to rely on others to fulfill them or lead them down the wrong path. Our daughter gets this concept. At every parent-teacher conference at school, the only thing I am truly interested in is whether or not she leads in the classroom. When we watch a movie together we talk through some leadership principles. I have her answer questions like, “How did the character react? How did they lead? What type of influence did they have?”
- Ownership. We have tried to teach our kids early on the meaning of ownership. First and foremost, we draw boundaries around who owns what. Mommy and Daddy own the family, under God’s direction. As a result, the kids do not get a say in many decisions. Our house is not a democracy, it is a dictatorship. I have seen too many families let the kids rule the home and all decisions from schedules, purchases, music, movies, etc., are driven by the kids. DISASTER ALERT!! Think about it — do you want to be ruled by a grade schooler or teenager? We teach our daughter that her possessions (basically gifts that were given to her) are hers and she should respect them and take care of them. This is a good lesson to help her to respect things like money. relationships, a car, and school in the future. We are not mean about it, just simply teaching our kids. I believe that is biblical: “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it” (Proverbs 22:6).
Go for it Dads!!!
