“Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you.”
- H. Jackson Brown

This means a lot to me! My husband and I have spent a lot of time lately discussing the kind of example we want to set for our children! I need not to cuss, he needs to be more patient while driving, etc. We know that those bad habits are hard to break, but kids see all that stuff, from a very young age! And the habits are the worst example because you do it all the time.

We are hoping as much as possible to set a great example in the way we live. Instead of just telling our kids they need to say please and thank you, we need to model it, by using those polite phrases with each other, and with others. Something as simple as asking my husband “Honey, will you take the garbage out, please” and remembering to say thank you afterwards is setting a positive example, as opposed to “Ryan, why haven’t you taken the garbage out yet, it’s brimming!” *LOL*

I firmly believe if our kids see us doing things like having our napkins in our lap, buckling our seat belts, being polite to others, etc. that they will eventually learn to follow. If you make the child do something you don’t even do yourself, it causes them to question it. Of course, there are exceptions, like mommy gets to wear make up and you don’t, but some of that just can’t be helped. I’m hoping to keep the exceptions to a minimum and live like the kind of person I want my kids to turn out to be!

My father was pretty good at this. He made plenty of mistakes, but he was always willing to sit down with me, and tell me that he was wrong, and that he was sorry. That meant a lot to me, and to this day I still have tons of respect for him!

So, let’s spend a little time today thinking about the good examples we will set in our current habits, as well as the bad, and think of at least one or two things we can start getting in the habit of right now to set a better example for our kids!

[GrowBabyGrow]

Good job Amber! That is an excellent point.

Good job Amber! That is an excellent point.[/b]

Thanks! I mean, I know these are all just opinions, but I figured a lot of you ladies would agree that setting a good example is something to think about! I'd rather work on it now before she starts imitating everything I do! *LOL*

[laura007]

I love this motto! Thank you for taking the time to share these inspirations with us!

[MaddiesMama]

This is actually a hot topic during dinnertime for us. We talk a lot over dinner every night about how we want to raise our children and we're already trying to figure out inconsistencies in our parenting approaches so that we always come across as being one united parental unit. We don't want to have a relationship with our children where "If mom says no, just ask dad, he'll say yes." or vice versa. I know we won't have it all figured out, EVER, but at least we're trying to get a head start now in zeroing in on issues that we both know we'll need to work on. I've already started cussing less, which is a huge feat in and of itself because I'm usually cussing for 2 hours every day during my commute home! I'm trying harder to think before I speak. I'm working on my own selfishness. I try to think logically about touchy situations because I always want to do the fair thing, but sometimes that's hard because to do the fair thing, you sometimes end up hurting someone's feelings. I basically want to lead my children by my example....my mom led by example and while I didn't turn out bad, I turned out in a way I didn't like and have made major changes to myself since I got out from under her roof....so it's a perfect example of how NOT to parent.

This is actually a hot topic during dinnertime for us. We talk a lot over dinner every night about how we want to raise our children and we're already trying to figure out inconsistencies in our parenting approaches so that we always come across as being one united parental unit. We don't want to have a relationship with our children where "If mom says no, just ask dad, he'll say yes." or vice versa.[/b]

That's great! My mother was very, very bad about letting me do things behind my dad's back. She made it very clear she thought he was too strict so when he wasn't around his rules didn't apply. This didn't do good things for me in the long run, and they're divorced now, so I can't say it did much for their relationship either.

My mother thought she was being "the nice one" but I have a great relationship with my dad, and I'm not even on speaking terms with my mom. Not that this is the only reason, but it's one example of why my dad is more reliable and I can trust him and his advice!

I think if you're talking with him now about how to stay united in front of the kiddos you're doing yourself a HUGE favor!!!!