Parenting Children - August 19, 2012

Day 7 – Setting Goals and The Importance of Play


•  having a vision for our familu life
•  pausing to think about what we want to achieve
•  what will our children’s memories be of us and their home in twenty years, time?

Goals for our family life - When they are adults, will our children associate their upbringing with:
•  having fun together as a family?
•  being listened to?
•  being able to talk through difficult choices?
•  being encouraged and affirmed?
•  being valued for their unique personality and gifts?
•  knowing they are loved?
•  learning important values of honesty, generosity, etc.?
•  learning to think about others?
•  being prayed for?
•  having clear boundaries for their own protection?
•  seeing kindness modeled?

The importance of play
•  using their imagination
•  learning skills
•  playing on their own
•  playing with others
•  indoor and outdoor play
•  limiting screen time

Question:
Did you have fun with your family growing up? When do you have the most fun together as a family now?

Study Guide

More Messages Associated With "Family"...

Powered by Series Engine


Teenagers needs the confidence that comes from knowing they are loved.  Their behaviour often acts like a gauge showing how full of love their internal “emotional tank” is.  Today, we introduce the concept of the five love languages as a way of expressing love to our teenagers in order for them to feel loved.

  • Our teenagers’ greatest need is to feel loved and accepted during this enormous transition in their lives a time of:
    • self- discovery
    • pushing for independence
    • much self-questioning
    • peer pressure
    • they can experience a lot of self-doubt and feel awkward and unlovable
    • confidence rests on:
      • security (knowing they are loved)
      • self-worth (knowing they are of value)
      • significance (knowing there is a purpose to their lives)
      • seek to keep their emotional tank” full of LOVE:
        • their behavior acts like the gauge to show how full of love they feel
        • knowing that they are loved and accepted enables them in the long-term:
          • to resist peer pressure when they need to
          • to make good choices
          • to build close relationships

Discovering how our teenagers feel loved

  • discover the primary way each teenager feels loved, whether it’s through:
    • time
    • words
    • touch
    • presents
    • actions
    • (see Gary Chapman, The Five Love Languages of Teenagers)
    • importance of a particular love language may have changed as a child has grown older

Question: Which of the five way of expressing love was most important for you during your upbringing?