Start Raising Successful Children

By Striker Corbin

 *Photo taken from Wonderful Years Kindergarten community.

Raising healthy, well-adjusted, respectful, and ultimately successful children is hard work.

On TV, the adolescents eventually "see the error of their ways" but, in reality, it is immeasurably harder to redirect children of teenage years. 

The most important time in raising respectful, responsible, reliable children starts from DAY 1. 

Quality parenting takes effort, consistency, patience and repetition. We risk angering our children by setting boundaries or telling them "no."  

It takes strength to bear your child's manipulative "anger" towards you, yet it is your responsibility to do so. 

As long as your discipline is conveyed with love and understanding, your children will grow up and realize you took certain actions because you love them.

Effective parenting begins by modeling simple character-building principles. Years ago, as our children were beginning elementary school, my wife taped the following list of ideals to our refrigerator:

• Choose the difficult right over the easy wrong.
  
  
• Don't whine or make excuses.
  
  
• Tell the truth.
  
  
• Do your best no matter how trivial the task.
  
  
• Look out for the group before you look out for yourself.
  
  
• Judge others by their actions not their race.

The first item, for example, must be taught- children, like most of us, do not instinctively choose the "difficult right" over the "easy wrong." Get them to do "the right thing" habitually and you have set a foundation for excellence and future success.

Raising children takes patience, skill, and involvement. They do not need another friend; they need guidance, structure, and discipline. The following list contains suggestions that, implemented regularly, provide a firm foundation for quality parenting:

• Let your children benefit from your experience and knowledge. Talk with them!
  
  
• Set reasonable boundaries and enforce them with consistency.
  
  
• Discipline fairly. Be ready to follow through if you threaten to punish. 
  
  
• Instill ethics in your children by modeling noble values.
  
  
• Have family dinners often. It is essential. This time can be a family's most memorable period of the day.
  
  
• Raise your standards of behavior and your children will pattern themselves after the person they most respect: you.
  
  
• Let your kids be kids; they will grow up fast enough. Eight year-old girls, for example, do not need to wear lipstick and eye shadow!
  
  
• Most importantly, give them unconditional love and support.

Finally, acknowledge that your children live up to your expectations. Your kids will behave as you predict. Contrarily, treat your children with respect, and they will behave respectfully. Eventually, they will grow up and once they are adults, you will have not only a friend you respect, but also someone who respects you.