How to be a role model for your children
We all are often confused with the very much sought after word "Role Model". Though everyone knows what it means, have you ever made yourself fortunate to think on how to be the right role model for your kid ? I am telling you, its no more as hard as nails. In this article, you will come across why and how to be a perfect role model for your child.
There is a brilliant quote: "To bring up a child in the way he should go, travel that way yourself once in a while." ~ Josh BillingsChildren are the best Mimics of Elders
Children are the best mimics who learn by aping their parents, as they are the people who are closest to them, I have seen. They copy each and every action and try them out. That is their way of learning simple things in life. Haven't you seen children when they are playing ? They copy and act as the people whom they are always closest to. Its interesting to see girls acting as mothers, home makers, doctors and others. They like to take up the roles in which they see their mothers in and the boys mimic their fathers as going to the office, buying things, disciplining the kids etc.Role Models in children's life
Unill they start going schools either the mother or the father will be their role model, but once they become a school-goer, their teacher most probably the class teacher will be their role model. You might have seen many times the children telling you that you don't know anything, my teacher told me like this, my teacher did like this, he / she is the best in the world etc. The children keep changing their role model as they grow up, and then it becomes hero worship as they get into their teenage.
Parents as a role model for their children
So the best time you get to be a role model for your child is when he is a baby that too in his raw years. Its better to mould children at this specific period,so that they will follow those good behaviour strictly for their whole lifetime. The child will unconsciously collect all the good traits from you. Just follow yourself what you want to teach your child, thus making the child follow the same. Since kids blindly follow their parents during their formative years.
If your child can get you as a role model to look up to, he will definitely keep away from all the mischiefs and risky activities. You have to be a good example or the model for your child to look up to. If you follow the things yourself which you want your kids to follow, they will pick up easily. You should not commit the opposite which you told them to do. The best method of disciplining the children I have explored is to be a role model for them. That works best with the children, when they watch their parents behaving well and treating others mainly their own parents and friends fairly good. Always remember that your children are watching you and learning from you
When I was a kid, I used to hear stories from my father, he was the role model for us. May be he got the stories from his father who once was a college professor in the colonial days of India.
Here i will share a story with you to prove that the children watch their parents and learn from their actions either good or bad.
A boy used to live with his parents in a house. The boy's grandparents also lived there with them. The boy's parents were not treating their parents well. They were made to stay in a room at the backside of the house and never got introduced to the friends who visited them. The old couple were treated as lowly people. The boy used to watch his mother serving food for the old ones in a broken vessel and a ceramic plate.
The days went by and the old couple died one after the other. At that time the boys parents took the ceramic plates and the broken vessel, which were lying unwanted in a corner. They were about to dump the plates in the waste when the boy who was watching all these cried "No, Don't throw them away." The father got upset and asked the child why he did not want the plates to be thrown away. Then the boy said, I want the plates. I have to look after you when I grow up isn't it? Keep the plates and the things Grandpa and Grandma were using. I will use the same things for you also. The parents were dumbstruck and didn't know what to do. They never understood that their child was watching them all the time and learning.
So just think before you act. My father used to say, " treat others in the way you want others to treat you". If you show good traits to children they will pick up good ones and vice versa. It will be very easy to pick up bad traits but very difficult to shred them off. So be sure how you react to the small problems which you face in the day to day life. Be it a tiff with the neighbours, the way you treat your servants etc. Always remember, there are eyes following you and learning new things every time. Before teaching the kids we have to learn and change ourselves to be a good role model for our kids. This is what I have learnt from my own experience of looking after two very naughty children. How to be a role model to your child
A Role Model is the best thing to happen in your child's life, it has got enormous good benefits too. They can look up to their parents who are always around them and learn wonderful traits from them. You should always remember, children look up to those who are very close to them and try to follow the path that their role model is following. You should make sure that the child is always with people who are careful about themselves and the one who is capable to be a role model for the children around them. Kids will reflect whatever they see the elders doing around them, so always be careful and remember that this is the most important way of shaping and disciplining your child to grow up as a better person.
Keeping all these things in your mind,your journey to be a "perfect-role-model" begins here.
