What we teach our kids

Ever wonder why you behave the way you behave? Ever wonder why you respond to certain situations the way you respond? Ever wonder why you don't apologize for something that you did? Ever wonder why you lock yourself in a room when you're upset about something?

I would give a guess that whether consciously or not, you observed all those behaviors from your parents as you were growing up. Our adult behaviors can be traced to our parents' behaviors. But it takes a real GROWN up to identify these behaviors and choose NOT to follow them.

When we can actually take a step back and examine ourselves and recognize that there are some things that we can improve, that's the first step to a new you! The harder phase is coming to the realization that what you want to correct in yourself you observe and have been observing everyday from your parents. The question is what do you?

You just make up your mind to change. Recognizing of course that no one is perfect, but if it is always better to correct the faults than leave them to develop into - well - bigger faults!

I listened to a homily the other day that addressed this very topic. Parents shouldn't send their kids to church. By sending your children to church you're in fact teaching them that going to Church is not important. As parents we have to dismiss the attitude of "Do as I say and not as I do".

Children learn from example and as such they will not hear a thing you say but they will see everything you do. Just think about a child growing up, we can't communicate with them, nor they with us but somehow they learn all the behaviors they need to learn in order to interact with others. The same good behaviors we want to teach our children, we have to demonstrate that same behavior. Don't expect your child to be perfect if you were a tyrant!