When have you Persevered?
“Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.”
George Edward Woodberry
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Have you ever had a similar experience?
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Check out my high school experience with this quote…
“It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
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Hear out my thoughts on this quote…
Ever had a struggle with your kids?
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”
Frederick Douglas
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Some thoughts on this quote…
“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”
Lewis Carroll
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Hear out my thoughts on this quote…
“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be very intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”
Albert Einstein
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Check out my thoughts on this quote…
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
– Maya Angelou. Author and Poet
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1. Have a Sense of Humor.
If you can be positive, then do it. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Laughing is easier than crying. If you can laugh at a situation or joke around with your teen, then do it. Sometimes your teen will need to talk about a serious situation or concern, but most of our everyday interaction (especially their mistakes) can be brought to a brighter light with a little laughter. When they lock their keys in the car for the third time and need your help again, do you lecture them or do you laugh about it will a smile? Remember, you’ve been there, locked outside your own car with the keys still inside. How did you want to be treated?
2. Show Them Respect.
Some parents don’t feel their teen deserves respect. That doesn’t matter! They need to be shown respect, whether they deserve it or not. If they aren’t shown respect, for their space, their stuff, their time, then how will they know what respect is? Who will teach them about true respect if they don’t learn it from you? Will they ever learn it? By showing them respect, you teach them how they should treat others.
3. Don’t Ground Them.
Find other ways to punish them that relate to the offense. Be creative if you have to. By grounding them, you are using “being home” as a punishment. How do they feel when their grounding is finally over? They can’t wait to get out of the house!
4. Show Interest in Their Hobbies and Music.
If they like to run, go running with them. (If they are ok with it) If they like to read, read the same book they are reading and talk about it with them. Listen to some of their music. While in High School I loved Country music. Faith Hill and Shania Twain were really big then and I just thought my mom loved that music too. We would listen to it in the car and at home. Years later, after being away at college, I returned home and my mom was not listening to country music. The music that was playing in the car was my younger sister’s favorite music which was more contemporary. I asked my mom about her change in music and she confessed that she played my taste in music on purpose. She did that with the other kids when they were teens. My mom never made me listen to HER music. Hearing music I loved created an environment where I felt comfortable and where I felt I belonged.
5. Let Them Invite Friends Over.
Make the home fun for other teens, so they will feel comfortable to have friends over. My grandparents had a room with a pool table and fridge full of soda pop. They always kept it stocked up and you can bet it wasn’t for the parents. It was for their three sons, whose friends loved coming over. It is much easier to keep an eye on your teen when he is in your house, not someone else’s. Lock up the stuff you don’t want them to touch. Make it safe, and fun. It will be to your benefit to meet and get to know their friends, whoever they are and whether you like them or not. If you want to keep your kid close, let them have friends over.
What do you think of these ideas? What would you add to the List?
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Yesterday my little 4-year-old girl and I spent some time with her Hello Kitty coloring book. We colored a few pages and talked about what was on her mind. After putting my 7-year-old son to bed, I stayed in his room last night and talked with him about his new book he got from the library and why he likes it. I read to my five-year-old yesterday while pausing at the small words I knew he could read. I pointed to each word as he sounded them out. Honestly, each time I spent quality time with one of my children it felt like it took forever, and yet, I know I need to spend more one-on-one time with each of my kids, and I’m glad to have the time to spend with them.
I spend time budgeting and worrying about how to spend money. Why not budget my time as well? I know I need to plan how I spend my time even more than money. We can earn more money, but time… time is something that we can’t get back.
Time is something we should all evaluate. So let’s all ask ourselves a few questions:
- How much time do you spend on Social Media? Yes, your magical little phone connects you to the world, easily and instantly, but how much of it is just connecting you to a waste of time?
- How much time do you spend sleeping? Are you getting enough sleep to be healthy? If you spent more time awake in the mornings and less time awake late in the evenings, would you be more on top of your day instead of feeling like the day runs you?
- How much time do you spend in conversations with people you really care about? This is when you ask yourself, “When’s the last time I called my mom and told her that I love her.”
- How much time do you spend learning how to improve yourself and trying to be better? Even if we dedicate a small amount of time to this subject, if we do it every day, we will see improvement. Whether it’s reading uplifting words, listening to encouraging talks, speeches, or sermons, or just spending a quiet moment writing down goals, we all need this time. Plan it and do it.
Ask yourself how you spend your time every day. Is the answer something you feel good and happy about? If you are honest, what would you like to change?
This quote is just right for the holidays. Time is valuable. Once it’s gone, you cannot get it back. What other “time evaluating” questions do you ask yourself? Leave them in the comments below!