Time or Things

What do you think your children would rather have?? Time together........or things?
When they look back at their childhood, do you think they will cherish what you bought them or what you did with them?
If you were present at their sporting or arts events, or whether you brought them presents to make up for not being there?
Not much more to say on the subject......just a little food for thought.

Strict?

i ran into an old friend from high school. He told me that he had heard i was a strict parent.
When did not allowing underage drinking, nor condoning it become known as strict and not the norm?
Besides the fact that the teenage brain is still developing and not equipped to handle alcohol.
Or the fact that statistics show that those who drink at a young age are several times more likely to abuse alcohol.
Or even the recent study that shows that parents who “allow” underage drinking is backfiring on them in that these kids are at much higher risk of having alcohol issues later in life.
Not to mention the fact it IS illegal!
I see these parents who are more concerned with their kids being popular than instilling solid values. They provide the alcohol so the kids will congregate at their homes. They feel as long as they take the keys away from these underage drinkers and don’t allow them to drive, they are responsible parents.
Yes we seem to be the minority.
Yet to me, not supporting underage drinking doesn’t make me a strict parent, it makes me a smart, caring one.

Read....and never stop

Our nightly ritual. The books are chosen from our library of many, my lap occupied, the reading begins.
You hear it stated over and over again.....read to your kids from the time they are babies to instill that lifelong love of literature.
So simple and yet so true.
And no excuses. It doesn’t matter how tired you are or that you have unfinished work or a pile of waiting laundry.
Or that you have read the same book the last ten nights in a row because it is the current favorite.... take the time anyway.
When our children were babies, and too little to understand, the gentle cadence of the words was soothing and the bonding priceless. As they grew, the pictures captured their attention. The little hands pointing, touching.
And that moment they read on their own is one that no parent EVER forgets!
But don’t stop there. Keep reading to them. Or read together, one page by you and the next, your child.
We would often go to the bookstore or library and just browse around....time ceased to exist, there was so much to explore. Our house runneth over with books as a result.
My three children all have a love of reading.....my daughters AND my son. I believe this is not a fluke.
No material gift you can give your child can ever compare.