This week's newsletter from Karen

7 Things Every Kid Needs to Hear

I Love You – As parents I know we all show our love to our children in many different ways. We may even say “I Love You” very often. But how often do we really sit down with our kids and tell them we love them when we (and they) are giving our full attention to the words and their meaning. Take some time this week and purpose to tell your children how much you love them.

I’m Proud of You – Believe or not, parents are still the #1 influence in the lives of their children. Statistics show that this doesn’t change until well into their 20s. Our children need to know that they give us a feeling of pleasure or satisfaction just the way they are.

I’m Sorry – I don’t know about you, but I hate being wrong. But there is one thing I hate more – admitting out loud I was wrong. We all make mistakes and we must tell our children we are sorry when we have done something wrong. This not only humbles us, it models the behavior for them.

I Forgive You – Just as we are going to make mistakes, so are our children. If we are modeling proper “I’m Sorry” behavior, they will begin to say they are sorry for things they have done. Once they have taken responsibility for their wrongs, we must forgive them. They need to know that our love is never attached to their behavior.

I’m Listening – Have your ever been talking to someone and knew the whole time that person was not listening to you. How did you feel? Sometimes my kids will be talking to me and I’ll catch myself not listening to them. I immediately know that empty feeling they are having because they’ve been ignored. If you will listen to your kids when the topics seem silly, mundane, boring, etc., I can almost guarantee they will come to you when the topic’s of greater importance or dire.

This Is Your Responsibility – Kids need to fail. I’ll repeat that – kids need to fail. We cannot be parents that continuously clear obstacles out of the paths our children are taking. Some parents clear obstacles in such a way that their child never knew the obstacle existed. Kids need to come up against obstacles and (with your advice and support, but not your action) make the decisions of how to tackle them. Sometimes they’ll get it wrong and fail, but this failure won’t ruin them. It will most likely make them better decision makers in the future. The earlier we start letting them take responsibility in the small things, the better they will be when the larger and more complex problems come their way.

You’ve Got What it Takes – Kids need to understand that God has created them just exactly the way he wants them. They also need to understand that God is in control. Knowing and understanding these two things is all they need to know they can face anything that comes their way.


The above was adapted from JoshShipp.com