GUESS WHAT? OUR KIDS ARE NOT CLONES!

I well remember the time that I first found out I was pregnant. I was sooooo excited!  As I passed the 12 week mark that little person inside started fluttering around and it didn't seem long after that there seemed to be a gymnastics class going on in there.  All the while I daydreamed about what motherhood would be like and who and what this little person would grow up to be.  I had no idea whether I was having a girl or boy, but I was sure he/she would be everything we could ever wish for.

Perhaps what we want for our children is not necessarily what they want!  We sometimes try to map out their lives to include the things we didn't achieve.  Of course, we don't realize that we are doing our best to influence them until one day, when they feel brave enough, they say, "No, I don't want to do that!  I want to do this!"  That may come as quite a shock.  We spend all our effort and often quite some money thinking we are doing them a favor when, in fact, they may not be good at that thing, have no interest in that activity or they just plain want to do something else!

How do we resist the temptation of trying to live our lives vicariously through our kids?  
We need to:

• Understand and appreciate that they are little individuals with their own skills and desires.  
• Stop and look at what they gravitate towards; what they seem interested in.
• Encourage them to try something and stick to it for a given period of time and not give up.
• Set high expectations, but not impossible ones.
• Let them be kids and just enjoy their early lives.

 "The irony of parenting is that children turn our molds upside down. They come out wired in ways we never anticipated. Our job is to figure out their inherent, God-ordained bent and train them in that direction. Forcing our dreams on them won't work. Only when we see them for who they are can we impact their life powerfully."

Quote supplied by:

Kari Kubiszyn Kampakis Author, columnist, and blogger at karikampakis.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kari-kubiszyn-kampakis/10-common-mistakes-parents-today-make-me-included_b_4753451.html