As a Parent Are You Being A Good Role Model?

When interviewed about who their role model is, younger children always mention their parents, teenagers sometimes mention their parents but usually it is a famous personality.

It is when we are much older  and have children of our own that we once again appreciate our parents and the kind of role model they were. I must admit that a lot of the things I practice I carried down from my mother, for example, the items I shop for, the way I arrange the kitchen cupboard, and the things I try to teach my son are a reflection of how I was raised up. I now understand better why my mum did some of the things she did.

What are you modelling for your child at the moment? Have you given it a second thought. We hear a lot about how children are the silent and sometimes not so silent eyes that follow us everywhere. One can tell a lot about the environment a child is growing up in by watching their behavior and how they interact with other children. Some areas to watch out for include:

1. Your Words

A friend told about how she was teaching her three year old daughter to say ‘excuse me’ when someone was in her way. It was going very well until one day her daughter was in her way and she was in a hurry and she said ‘Move!’. A few days later the daughter repeated the same and when questioned the response was ‘but that is what mummy says’!

Related: What your Baby’s name says about you

2. Your Actions

A lot of the time we do things without thinking, for example, throwing the spoon into the sink from across the kitchen, scratching unmentionable areas, licking the jam off the knife, all action that happen without thought, but when we see our children doing them, they get a scolding.

3. How You Treat Your Loved Ones

Your husband, children, close family and friends fall into this category. Sometimes we take these people for granted and are mean to them. You may give your husband silent treatment forgetting that your children are quietly watching. Or one child may get on your bad side, the others are watching and taking note.

4. How You Talk About Others

We tend to think that children either don’t understand or are not paying attention when we are talking with other grown ups. They are. They hear how you refer to other and how your express your feelings towards those people. May parents have been very embarrassed when their children repeated in public parts of a conversation shared in private.

We spend a lot of time telling our children not to do certain things or not to behave a certain way and yet we do those exact same things we are telling them not to do.

Be a role model for your children and practice what you preach.

Read more about Parenting from Ory’s Blog.