We all want to do right by our children, especially when it comes to bringing them up in the best environment possible. As a parent, we have a responsibility to make sure that our children learn right from wrong and that they’re gaining life lessons that they can use for their own benefit in the future.
Navigating childhood can feel like a mountain for your children and it’s easy to forget just how tough being a kid was! With that being said, what are some of the best life lessons you could pass down to your children? Here are several life lessons to teach your children as they grow up.
Honesty is always the best policy
One of the best life lessons you can pass down to your children is that of honesty is always the best policy. Lies and telling lies can be hard to maintain and it’s something that will often catch up with the person eventually.
Honesty in their personal life, as well as their work life, is something they’ll come to appreciate and understand is the appropriate way to behave. As children, it’s easy for your children to tell a lie or to pretend as though they’ve done nothing wrong. For a parent, telling them off or catching them out on a lie feels a little harsh but it’s something that they need to be taught is wrong to do.
It’s important to gently tell them the consequences of lying and how that’s not beneficial for them or the person(s) they’re lying to. Remember though that your child is still learning and just because they’ve lied about something that they shouldn’t obviously lie about, doesn’t mean it’s obvious to them.
Always leave a job on a positive note
It’s important that when it comes to your professional life, you’re always moving forward with a positive goodbye from your previous employer. It’s always best in your interest that you leave a job on a positive note and not on a negative one. For your children, that same life lesson should be given to them.
There will, of course, be scenarios where leaving a job on a happy footing is not always possible. Certain situations may present themselves in which there’s wrongdoing by the company and therefore an employee is left with no choice but to ruffle a few feathers.
It’s important to let your children know that nine times out of ten, any termination of a job whether voluntary or done by the employer themselves, should be a positive one.
Good manners go a long way in life
For someone that’s brought up on good manners, it feels alien to hear someone else go about their life without saying please and thank you. However, it’s much better to be on the side of having good manners, rather than being taught that being courteous isn’t something you necessarily need.
Good manners cost nothing and if you’re not using manners when communicating with others, it often comes across as rude and entitled. You may be nothing like that but that is the first impression that many who’ve been brought up with good manners will likely think.
Whenever you’re out and about with your child, be sure to encourage them to say please and thank you. This will help ensure they do it in all scenarios, even when you’re not present to observe them doing so.
Treat everyone how you’d like to be treated
It’s a common saying, ‘treat everyone how you’d like to be treated’. It’s something that often gets forgotten about when it comes to daily life and interacting with others that you might not necessarily know first-hand.
From grabbing a cup of coffee on your morning commute from the barista to interactions with fellow peers in your workplace, it’s important that everyone is treated with respect. Whether you know the person or not, you never know what type of day they may be having and so it’s important to be kind to everyone.
After all, how would you feel if someone talked to you negatively or treated you with disrespect? You’d probably feel a little disappointed and upset, right? It’s important to remember that how you treat others is a reflection of who you are as a person. This is important when children are growing up because they can often be influenced to judge people before getting to know them.
No child is born to hate a certain gender, sexuality, or race. That’s why it’s important to ensure your child treats everyone equally.
Don’t mistreat your body
As children get exposed to more of the world around them, they become more vulnerable as do we all when we reach adulthood. Life isn’t easy by any means and unlike childhood, there are responsibilities and the reality kicks in with bills to pay and money to earn.
With life, it doesn’t always go according to plan and therefore problems can occur. From failed jobs to failed marriages, life can easily spiral out of control from one or an unfortunate series of events.
It’s important to tell your children that despite the hardships, it’s important that they don’t mistreat their bodies. After all, they only get one, and going into rehab for alcohol or drugs is one example of how a person can do damage to their body.
Embrace mistakes and failures as life lessons
We all make mistakes and that’s a part of life. However, we often chastise those who make mistakes instead of trying to understand what went wrong. Mistakes and failures should be seen as life lessons and not something to be necessarily ashamed of.
Failure is an opportunity to try again and if at first, you don’t succeed, trying again is what will eventually lead to success. For children, they’re likely to make their fair share of mistakes, especially during their school years and in their personal lives as they’re discovering themselves.
As a parent, it’s important to give your children the guidance that not everything will go swimmingly in life. Therefore, embrace those mistakes and failures and use them as life lessons for the future.
Never give up on your dreams
Dreams are something that all of us have and it’s important that you’re doing everything you can as a parent, to help them achieve those dreams. However, life gets in the way and dreams don’t always pan out the way you’d hoped.
However, it’s important that as a parent, you’re giving your child everything they need not just physically but mentally too. It’s hard to keep working on a dream, especially when it proves challenging at times.
While some may give up on their dreams, teach your children the importance of working hard and making every last attempt to make those dreams happen.
Take care of your physical health
Your physical health is something that should be a priority, yet life often gets in the way of those check-ups. If you teach your child anything in this life, make sure they’re taking care of their health. Accompany them to their health appointments and ensure they keep up with it.
It’s ok to say no
Finally, probably one of the most influential life lessons to teach your children is that it’s ok to say no. When something is presented to them or suggested and they don’t like it, tell them that there’s nothing wrong with saying no.
With all this being said, you can only do so much for your littles ones, so use these tips and give yourself a regular pat on the back - you’re doing well!