What Your Children Really Need

There are things society (read: adult peer pressure) tells us we need to give our children, and then there are the things they really, truly need. Problem is, we can get so busy doing the former that we don’t have time for the latter.

Live wisely.

Your children need you to:

Take Time to Listen.

And smile. And communicate that you love their uniqueness and you want to know more about what makes them tick, what their interests are, and what (if you’re listening carefully) kind of man or woman they are becoming. They need you to be present.

Love Their Dad & Show It

It’s so easy to take him for granted, isn’t it? Nothing makes a child feel more secure than to see his mom and dad confirming their love for each other in real, tangible ways (psst…these are the little things). (If you are divorced, or in an abusive marriage, there is grace for you.)

Read to Them

Intellectual development, social development and bonding are a few benefits of reading to your children. To have shared a book together–the adventure, the joke, the suspense and the resolution–is to have taken a journey together and created forever shared memories.

Be in Charge

A whole world of trouble is saved, in parent and child, when a parent learns early how to say “no” and enforce it. No fanfare, no drama, just, “I’m the parent, I love you, the end.”

“Open Your Mouth in Wisdom”

Let me challenge you: there is so much to teach a child, so many lessons–how to use money, to resolve conflict, to be a lady or gentleman–that will put him ahead in life. And do you know where they all start? Wisdom. Use every chance to help them grow to be wise.

See You Serve

Do you get tired of serving your family? Your neighbor? Remember that your demonstration of sacrifice is teaching them about a foot-washing Savior. A dear lady whom I loved just died. Her funeral was one of the most incredible testimonies of “praising her in the gates” I’ve ever witnessed. Her magical secret? She served. Quietly, patiently, humbly, consistently. And she is absolutely exalted and immortalized forever.

Redeem the Time

This list could go on, of course. But let’s attempt, with the same effort (or more?) we scramble to take them to music lessons, or make sure they’ve covered their school work, or played on the soccer team. Let’s redeem the time and make room for what matters.