Our Children

Children value themselves to the degree they feel valued.

Of course we love our children and we assume they know that.  But there is a difference between being loved and feeling loved. 

You are a psychological mirror that your children use to build their identity.

Be aware of giving technology more attention than we give our children. [there it was: that warning about social media clear back in 2012!] Do our eyes light up when our children enter a room?  They should!

Sometimes as mothers we habitually attend to what is missing or what is wrong instead of building up the good stuff.  Margaret told a story of when she got so frustrated with her son for forgetting things and missing the bus.  She dropped him off at the school with all the weight of her lecture weighing him down.  As she was about to take off, her younger son rolled down the window and called out to his older brother: "I love you!!"  Oh the way she told that story made me so motivated to ease up a little on those lectures!

Kids are such a work in progress...we should put ourselves in their shoes as often as we can.

Find the goodness in each child and build that up.  Reinforce the good parts of the day and how they made you feel.  We all need positive feedback, right?

Compliment kids in front of other kids...pray about how grateful you are for them with them at your side.

Undivided attention with each child is so important!  

We are all encumbered and frazzled by so many things.  We need to be sure that we acknowledge that those sweet children are so much more important than a phone call, email, blog post, etc.

Show love through service.  The mundane (helping them clean a room, a sincere compliment) can become monumental.