by lilipad

Created on: March 18, 2009

Developing Compassion
as a Way of Life for You and Your Children

Loving my children is the best way to develop compassion as a way of life for me and my children.

Parenting is both physical and spiritual energies that are important in having children. The physical includes pregnancy, child births, clothing and feeding a child, disciplining a child, schooling a child, and finally letting go of the child at her/his adulthood. In the spiritual sense, a parent takes on the responsibility of making sure the child grows up with an unshakable faith that parents must choose to implant in the child's mind. Religion may or may not be a consideration in this process but it is essential that a parent must have a living faith that a child may or may not elect to emulate and embrace.

A child needs guidance to become a responsible human being. Teaching the child to treat others as the child would want to be treated should be stressed. Living the Golden Rule must be the best example of a parent's responsibility to a child.

Giving the child compassionate protection from physical hurts, caring for the child during illnesses, and dispensing medical aid through a doctor's advice as and when a child is harmed should be an important undertaking of the parent.

Showing the child the proper way to behave with other children and with other adults by emphasizing good manners and right conduct must make sense as another responsibility to a child. Parents are a child's first teacher and is influenced by the parents' behaviors and the way they treat each other in front of, and within the child's earshot.

Allowing the child to form her/his own opinions through discussions and family debates should be considered as a parent's responsibility. As parents, we must encourage our children to think for herself/himself, to learn to decide, and to stand firm on her/his decisions.

Responsibility to a child is important because her/his actions, behaviors, and conduct are essential factors that would guide her/him in the future years of her/his life. There is nothing more depressing and embarrassing to a parent than to realize that one's child misbehaves badly, becomes physically cruel, and emulates disrespect , as well as lacks consideration for others. Children are naturally selfish but with a parent's guidance they may realize that egoism is one attitude that need not be embraced.

The End

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