Last night after we got both kids down to sleep, instead of doing our usual Netflix combo of “1 hour drama + 30 min comedy,” we had a hard discussion. A discussion about our little Cha Cha. You see, we’ve always known she was strong willed, extremely independent, and slightly feral. Three things we agreed we wanted to preserve (well, maybe not the latter 😉). But here comes the hard part – where do you draw the line at not wanting to break a child’s will and yet also not wanting to raise a crap human?
As we went round and round last night, I came to realize what it all comes down to…learning how to raise good humans. I say “learning” because I think most parents would agree that when you have a child, it’s not like you magically are bestowed with the ability to perfectly parent every child known to man (although I think there are a few Karen’s out there who’d beg to differ 😉).
Some kids are sensitive and old souls like our Garrett, and some kids, well, some kids are our Cha Cha. You could shuffle those cards til your blue in the face, and still never know what you’re gonna get dealt in the game of parenthood. Sometimes though, if you break it all down to just the basics, you just might come away with a game plan & that’s just what I did. I’m definitely not trying to be preachy here, and hope that this can serve as some kind of common ground that we can all get on board with to help raise these tiny humans to be good to each other – even if it kills us 😉
Basic Steps on How to Raise Good Humans
Resilience
Life won’t always be rainbows & butterflies but teaching our kids that a little grit goes a long way will help them face challenges head on.
Joy
Too many times in life we let insignificant things or others steal our joy & we try to be an example to our kids for finding joy in the little, non-material things.
Respect
Having respect doesn’t always mean towards other people – it’s just as important to us to teach our kids about respect for themselves which will inevitably lead to treating those around them right.
Empathy
Remorse and empathy go hand and hand which is why first teaching our kids, especially strong-willed ones, what it means to feel remorse will in turn lead them on a path towards empathy for others.
Inclusion
Spreading a message of inclusion is on the minds of everyone and it absolutely starts at home, in an environment that teaches them that people deserve to be given a chance, respected, and treated with kindness before placing judgement.
Responsibility
We’ve always been big on letting our kids take on age-appropriate responsibilities and we hope to continue to lead by example to teach them about social responsibility, like standing up for what’s right and protecting those in need.
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