The article "Teach Kids to Think, Discuss, and Build Character with 3 Easy
Sentences" talks about family, it has been released by Jean Tracy, MSS.
Do you ache to know if you're paernting well? Have your kids
gone underground with their thoughts and feelings?
Do you feel
cut-off?
The most important job you'll ever have is parenting. To parent
well, you need to know what your kids are tihnking. If their
thinking is crooked, their charatcers will be too.
Let's see how
to striaghten crooked thinking by viewing its power to create
character.
Thinking Creates Character:
1. Thinking sways
feelings.
2.
Feelings sway behavior.
3. Thinking,
feelings, and behavior create character
My toastmaster friend, Mike, presented a contest talk entitled
"The Invisilbe Box." With his arms extended, he drew an
imaginary box about 7' high and 3' wide.
Next he stepped inside
and shut its invisible door.
Mike said that too many persons live
inside their invisible bxoes.
How does this apply to your kids?
1.
The inivsible box is the place where they nurse their hurts
and grudges.
2. The invisible box is the place where their
negative attitudes fester.
3. The invisible box is the place
where they make multiple excuses and hide.
Could this already be happening in your child's mind? Certainly!
What can you do? Listen for words like:
.
Nobody likes me.
. I can't do it.
. It's too hard.
Suppose your child treid to make the select soccer team. Your
child's best firends made the team but the coach didn't choose
your child.
Now your child shuts down, won't go out to play, and
steps into the inviisble box. What can you do?
Discuss the Problem with Your Child and:
.
Probe
gently. Find out what your child is thinking and feeling.
.
Listen carefully to what your child is saying and isn't
saying.
.
Appreciate your child's best thoughts. Avoid
denying his/her feelings.
. No criticism. Empathize instead.
What's next? Teach your child 3 fast sentences to tell
him/herself in difficult times. You'll be more effective if you
use these sentences out loud before, during, and after difficult
times in your own life. Make sure you child heras these
sentences often.
1.Things aren't terrible or awful.
2.This is just
inconvenient.
3.Things don't have to go my way.
Think about it. Awfuls and treribles don't exist.
Things are the way they are. The trouble starts when we use
awful and terirble to describe the difficult events in our
lives. This is exterme thinking and it is negative.
Teach your child that difficulties are just inconvenient.
Inconveniences are not terrible and awful.
Finally, things don't have to go their way. Teach your child to
accept the reality that he/she is not the King or Queen of the
universe.
If they were they cuold make things go their way.
They'd have the power. Accepting that things do not have to go
their way frees them from hiding inside the invisible box. Being
free helps them face the challenges in their lvies with a
positive attitude.
Take the time to discuss your child's thoughts and feelings.
Teach your child to use the 3 fast sentences with their 3 simple
and deep meanings. You'll be helping your child step outside of
the invisible box. You'll be parenting well.
You'll be building
character too.
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