“A man who gives his children habits of
industry provides for them better than by giving them fortune.” ~Richard Whately
“We are what we
repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” ~Aristotle
If the above
quotes are any indication, our daily habits are extremely important. As parents, we need to be diligent about
helping our children develop good habits.
Again, this is one of those things that must be done with intention. Remember, we are always teaching. Raising great kids takes a lot of time and
effort!
Work hard, finish
what you start, clean up after yourself, brush your teeth every day, make
healthy food choices… these are some of the more obvious good habits we try to develop
in our kids. The following are some more
healthy habits that we have tried to teach in our family.
Even before our
first child was born, my husband and I had determined that we would be a family
of prayer. Maybe you haven’t ever
thought of prayer as a habit, but we wanted to develop that daily practice in
our home. Beginning with that very first
night in the hospital following our first child’s birth, we have gathered
together as family before bedtime to pray.
Whenever our girls have a worry or concern, we pray. Whenever someone is sick and needs healing,
we pray. Has it always been easy or
convenient? Honestly, no. But all of
these years later, the good habit of daily prayer has been established.
As parents, David
and I also determined that we wanted our children to learn to always do their
best. Over the years, “Do your best” has
been our expectation and mantra. Now we
hear these words come out of their mouths and we have watched them implement
this habit of doing their best in their daily lives.
One last
example: We really wanted our children
to become good readers and enjoy reading every day. If you can read, you can learn anything! We began reading to them while they were
babies. We tucked them into bed as
preschoolers with stacks of books to look at and “read” before they went to
sleep. As emerging readers, our girls
read out loud to us each night. Soon we
were reading the same book series together and sharing recommendations within
our own little book club. Now one of our
favorite things to do is visit the library or local bookstore together.
Good habits take
time to develop, but it is time well-spent. Take some time today to think about the
habits you want to grow in your kids and then make a plan. Perhaps you will even develop some new good
habits for yourself.
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