Mothers love to show off our toddlers – how cute he is, how well dressed he is but ask yourself, how often if ever, am I one who shows off how obedient, a well mannered, caring child who loves to share his things my child is? Shaping your child’s personality for future is not something that starts when he gets to pre-teen or God forbid a teenager.
How well are we doing in shaping their personality?
Admittedly child training is not going well! Listen to the stories of children burning schools, the drug and alcohol taking that is being carried out by youngsters, involvement in crime – the cry we are hearing that the criminals today are youngsters of 14-18 years. We won’t even begin to discuss the ‘gang culture’ so prevalent today. Therefore, a good firm foundation – will he grow up to be a responsible, well mannered, considerate individual starts now! When he is a toddler.
Call it training, shaping or teaching at this early age, is like putting a fence around a newly bought property (I’m certain a lot of Kenyans can identify with this analogy).
Why do we do this? Is it not so we can protect our ownership of it and begin to develop the land inside? Training your child right from toddler helps create boundaries for him. This will protect him from unwanted outside influence and allow his personality to develop from within.
Some parents permissively let their child make his own choices at this young age, thinking that children should be raised in a spirit of freedom. Other times, it’s because their lives are so busy they just do not have the time to give the attention and training necessary.
A lot of parents today feel that their child’s schooling is the most important thing. Therefore, they give the child almost unlimited freedom as long as he gets good grades in school and eventually gets into University. With regard to this, I like what a principal of a middle school in Seoul, Republic of Korea, said. He emphasized that personality training should have priority and said: “After you build a fine character comes the input of knowledge.” Many parents who want their child to enter college and succeed in life turn a deaf ear to cautionary voices.
So, If you are a parent, what kind of person do you want your child to be?
An adult with a sense of morality and responsibility? Someone who is considerate of others, who is adaptable, and who has a positive spirit? Then start training this as early as possible.