dont go breakin' their heart!

so i just read this great article ... it just tugged at my heart strings! tho its directed at dads... moms need to hear it just as much!

a few key points that touched me and i want to remember:

1) Every child has the innate right to ask for ice cream without being belittled and broken, to do so without being made to cower in the corner because YOU are having a hard time.

2) anger is almost always an emotion for people who wish to control others while simultaneously failing to control themselves!

3) a child's entire sense of value can revolve around what they see in your face when you first see them.

4) Do you honestly expect anybody to believe that you can't find 20 minutes to step away from your computer or turn off the television to play with your child? Do you know the damage you do by not playing with your children every day?

5) your kids are going to make mistakes, and a lot of them. Do you not realize the damage you do when you push your son's nose into his mishaps or make your daughter feel worthless because she bumped or spilled something? Do you have any idea how easy it is to make your child feel abject? It's as simple as letting out the words, "why would you do that!?" or "how many times have I told you..."

6) It's time to tell our kids that we love them. Constantly. It's time to show our kids that we love them. Constantly. It's time to take joy in their twenty-thousand daily questions and their inability to do things as quickly as we'd like. It's time to take joy in their quirks and their ticks. It's time to take joy in their facial expressions and their mispronounced words. It's time to take joy in everything that our kids are.

(and these are just a few of the great points he makes!)

so to sum up...
even tho we are not all perfect we, don't have to be to make a positive influence in our children's life... LOVE them, CHERISH them, SPEND TIME with them! it makes all the difference in the world!

~i am so grateful to have been blessed with such a wonderful dad! who loved us kids and took time to make lasting memories with each of his children. who never yelled.. or at least that i can recall. or hurt us in any way. who blessed us when we were sick and prayed for us when we strayed. who truly loved us for who we were and still urges us to be the best we can be. and i love him for it!~