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Most parents al ready have a life–
time of plans for their newborns.
They may plan for their children to
be successful doctors or prominent
lawyers. Or plan a majar league
sports career for them. How many
parents havc already purchased,
befare the day of bírth, a football, a
piano, ice skates or a baseball
glove?
Above all we want them to have
good health and be happy wíth
whatever they become.
In addition to their long-range
goals, parents hope to give their chil–
dren every material benefit possible.
How many times have you heard
parents say, "Our child will never
have to go through the hard t imes we
did"? Most chi ldren today grow up
with better homes, do less work,
have more clothing, more leisure
time and more convenience items
than any generation in history.
In order to provide this plethora of
material goods, parents must spend
countless hours on their jobs. Many
fathers have taken a second job in
arder to provide necessities and lux–
uries of life. Many mothers work
outside the home so the family can
afford more and better things than
would otherwise be possible.
l t is a noble goal- to provide
well for the family and to give the
chíldren opportunities. Bút in pur–
suit of material possessions, many
parents have failed to give the most
important gift of all.
Think about it. Proud parents
bríng new life into the world- tiny
miniature reproductions of them–
selves. Your child will have your
looks, your personality, many of
your abi lities and your tempera–
ment. Most parents want their chil–
dren to grow up to be "chips off the
old block."
But too many couples today
quickly lose their newfound zeal in
the early months of their child's
life. They just let their children
grow up--too oftcn left in day-care
centers or with baby-sitters- sel–
dom inftuenced by their parents.
Then when these child r en
become teenagcrs, thc parents won–
der why they can't communicate
with them- why there is a genera–
tion gap. What they fai l to realize
is that this generat ion gap has
existed from birth- there never
was any real communication. T he
16
problems may not be manifest,
however, until teenage.
From Blrth to School Age
There is no more important time in
life than the early years. Practically
everything we will become is
started and determined in those
fi rst few years of life.
It has been said we learn more
from birth to age
1
than we will
learn in any other one year of our
lives.
lt
seems hard to believe but
researchers insist it is t rue.
And we continue to learn in those
early years- at astou nding rates.
Little children are taking in every–
thing-learníng to walk, talk and
think. They are forming personality
and charact'er traits. How do they
learn during these early years?
BY EXAMPLE!
Everything you do--or not do-–
is being taken in. If you shuffle
them off to the day-care centers or
leave them with the baby-sitters or
leave them alone with the television
set blaring from dawn lo midnight,
they'll be taking in quite a different
perspective than you intend.
Your chi ld ren will learn to speak
with the same accent, voice tones
and vocabulary as you do. They will
take on your personality traits and
good habits. They probably will
develop similar tastes in food,
entertainment and art.
T hat is,
IF
you are around to
ínfluence your children.
Of course, if parents are not
around, their children will pick up
mannerisms, personalities and
tastes of others. That míght not
always be desirable.
The Best Laid Plans
Far too often, though new parents
start out with the best of intentions,
they quickly return to a previously
established rouiine. Long hours of
work and fighting the t raffic may
not make for the best parental atti–
tude at the end of a tiring day. Dad
may say, " Honey, get a baby-sitter
and let's go out to dinner; l 'm
exhausted."
When the weekend rolls around,
the old routíne of golf, tennis, fishing,
bowling or whatever recreation par–
ents have participated in, beckons.
Dad may think he'll play ball
with his son when he is older. But
family habits usually are set in con-
crete and later hard to change. A
youngster seeing Dad go off with
others the first severa! years is not
suddenly going to want to start
kicking or throwing a ball around
with Dad when he's about 12.
If,
on the other hand, parents
have played with their children on
the living room . floor when they
were 3 months old, then in the
backyard when they were toddlers,
taught them to ride bikes at age
4,
played tag in the park when they
were
8,
then when tbey are teen–
agers, they'll still be playing games
together.
Teaching
by
Example
There is no greater opportunity to
innuence the way your chíld will
turn out than by the example you
set.
You've all heard the old adage
too many parents still live by: "Do
what 1 say, riot what Ido." Surely
we know that doesn't work. Parents
who lament a child starting to
smoke in junior high school have no
recourse if they' ve continued to
smoke themselves.
The father who brags about how
he cheated the government out of
laxes due cannot expect his son to
grow up an honest, law-abiding cit–
izen. These parents have already
lost the battle. Their examples
speak louder than their words. In
sorne cases, our examples coun–
tcract our words.
There have been sorne alarming
social trends in recent years. There
are increasing numbers of alco–
holic parents and parents who are
abusive to their children. After
analyzing hundreds of problems,
psychologists have found in a large
percentage of those cases where
parents were abusive to children,
they were themselves abused.
Similar statistics apply to alco–
hol ism. Adults who become alco–
holic are often a product of a home
where alcohol was abused.
If
you are a parent, you have a
tremendous responsibility to set the
proper cxample in your borne. But
in order to set an example you have
to be there.
The objective is to have a posi–
tive effect. Homes that are filled
with !ove and sharing will produce
chi ldren who love and shar e.
Homes filled with happiness and
The
PLAIN TRUTH