During my first year of parenting, I felt the need to make the most significant decisions for my children. The pressing questions during that time were: “How should I approach breastfeeding?”, “When and what solid foods should I introduce?”, “What about vaccinations?”, “Is co-sleeping the right choice?” and so on. After this initial year, I came to realize that there are decisions and directions much more challenging to navigate, and these are related to my children’s education.
I was wondering what do I want to teach my children, how should I educate them, what kind of a parent should I be in order to transforming them into full-grown, responsible adults, as our parents successfully managed to do.
I am aware that their teenage world will be different from the one we grew up in. The modern world is full of new temptations, and they will have to learn to navigate them. I won’t always be there to guide them, so they must learn to make decisions independently. They need to understand how to choose when faced with multiple options. And regardless of their choices, they must know that I will love them unconditionally. This was the first lesson I felt compelled to impart: the importance of decision-making.
We embarked on this lesson about decision-making through Romanian fairy tales where characters representing good and evil contend with each other. At the end of each story, we discussed the decisions made by the main characters and whether they were right or wrong.
After reading through a book full of stories, they were able to distinguish between good and bad, and identify good decisions from bad ones. They seemed to grasp the theoretical aspect of the lesson.
There comes the practical part! Years of practice lay in front of us…
For the practical part I began with a very important topic for our family, healthy eating. I explained them how important is to eat fresh fruits and vegetables everyday, how unhealthy fast-food and sugar can be. I try to teach them to choose healthy food over the unhealthy one.
Last night at the candy shop, the vendor smiled when they requested two small chocolate candies each, while everyone else was purchasing large quantities. They decided that would be their sugar allowance for the week. I told them how proud they made me, and yet, I would love them the same even if they had chosen to buy more chocolates.
Another decision-making exercise revolves around their screen time (using computers, tablets, TV). In this digital age, do you think it’s unrealistic for me to trust them to determine when it’s excessive? 🙂
For now, I explained to them the potential harm gadgets can cause to their eyes and how hyperactive they become after extended periods in front of screens. We are just beginning this exercise, and we need to guide them in the right direction at times. There’s much work ahead, but I remain optimistic!
What I truly desire is for them to understand their limits and make decisions that are beneficial to their well-being and health.
The most crucial aspect is that regardless of the decisions they make, I will always love them the same.
