Raising Uncommon KidsSample

Lesson Title: Be Careful Little Ears What You Hear
Character Focus: Gentleness
Prayer Focus: Parent to Child
Focus Verse: COL.3.12

Our kids are much more perceptive than we often give them credit for. In fact, one of the most common mistakes we make as parents is assuming our kids don’t hear us. I would argue that they do in fact hear most of what we have to say; whether they choose to listen is a completely different story.

In today’s lesson, a noticeable shift occurs from setting a tone to studying actual family interactions. I challenge you to model grace and gentleness not only in your interactions with your spouse or other adults in your child’s life, but even more so in your interactions with your children.

Gentleness is often mistaken for meekness, but I’d argue that it takes someone with real strength to show grace and gentleness, especially when they have the authority to exercise their might and muscle. Instead of creating a dictatorship where we raise robots, our goal as parents ought to be communicating standards consistently, allowing children to make mistakes under the safety of our roof.

Let your children deal with their mistakes. Don't be so quick to clean up all your children's messes for them. Think about it: it's better to help your kids process their flubs while they're living with you in their school years than to raise them in a bubble and then send them off to college without a hint of what the world will throw at them.

Thought to Ponder: One of the worst ways we discredit our children is not just by speaking ill TO them, but by speaking ill OF them. 

Make it Practical: 
Nothing does more for a child’s heart than for them to “overhear” you praising them publicly. Make it a practice to greet your child first thing in the morning with a positive word and send them to bed at night with another positive trait about themselves to meditate on as they go to sleep.