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Many elements of our world reflect a growing unhappiness. Yes, there is terrorism, war, crime and violence. What is important is to try to balance out the ugliness and unhappiness by celebrating what is beautiful and wonderful about our world. The best way to do this is to view the world through our children's eyes and relish the wonderment they see in the little things, and remember the things that truly matter.

All a parent really wants for their children is for them to be happy and healthy. In this day and age fear, rage and ugliness are constantly in our faces, making the task all that more difficult. I have to wonder if it isn't time to go back to more old fashioned family values and try to shelter our children a little more from the harsh realities that they will soon enough have to deal with as teenagers and young adults.

They say that the more you smile at a baby, the more he will smile back at you. The more cuddles you give, the more you will receive and so on. So I really believe a little sheltering from the cold hard facts of life as shown on the 5:00pm news is not such a bad thing. I'm not saying you should let your children grow up to be naive and live in a fairy tale world that doesn't exist. But what chance have they to be happy and love this beautiful world if the majority of what is projected before them is unhappiness and ugliness?

Just think of what it does to your spirit to be watching death, war and violence on the television, in the newspaper, books, DVDs and video games. It doesn't give you a warm bubbly feeling does it? Replace this with cuddles, stories, bath time play and generally spending quality time with your children and your family and you will see a difference.

All that your children really want is your time, love and attention. When you give it freely and often, even in small doses you will notice a difference in their level of happiness. This does not mean that you have to give up time for yourself. A happy parent makes happy children too.

My aim to try and raise my children happily boils down to these few things. Care for yourself, project happiness, make time to spend time, give lots of cuddles and kisses, listen truthfully and attentively, give advice objectively and shelter your little ones a little.

Learn more about this author, Heidi Heywood.
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