8 Lessons I Want to Teach My Children

As my fourth Mother’s Day approaches this weekend, I find myself reflecting on my role as a mother. This year, more than the years before, I can really feel what an important role I play in the lives of my children. Maybe it is because our family is now complete. Or perhaps because Madeline is becoming more and more of a little person instead of a baby or toddler with every passing day. But, regardless, I find myself a little in awe of the job I have to do. It is such an important one and one that I feel so blessed to have.

I always knew I wanted to be a mother but its not really until you are in the role that you truly understand all it means. A mother’s love is something fierce. How blessed and fortunate I feel to have been entrusted to raise my two little ones and shape them into the people they will one day become.

When thinking about the most important lessons I want to teach them, there really are countless values I want to instill in them. But, if I could only pick a few to really drive home, it would be the eight below.

Love yourself. I think it is so important to teach our children to love themselves for who they are and who God made them. In today’s world we are surrounded by “perfection” on social media and it is so easy to fall into the trap of not feeling good enough or feeling like everyone around us is doing a better job. But that is just not true – we all have struggles and flaws and we all have our own unique skillset and talents. We are who we are for a reason and it is truly incredible that no one else is like us. I don’t want them to rely on the approval and love around those to feel self-worth. I want my children to know they are one of a kind and to take pride in who they are.

Find your passion. Life is too short to fill it with things that don’t light a fire deep inside us. I want to raise truly passionate children who care about the world around them and who feel that they are making a difference every day.

Be kind. So much of the world today is filled with confrontation and hate. It can be a scary thing raising a child in today’s world. I think a little more kindness in the world could make such a difference and I hope that my children are remembered by their peers as spreading kindness, accepting others for who they are, and going out of their way to be helpful. Being a kind and good person matters and it does make a difference.

Other people’s opinions do not define you. I don’t want my children to feel held back by worrying about what other people think. I don’t want them to ever feel not good enough just because someone else said that was the case. When labels are cast on them by their peers, I want them to be able to just shake them off and know that as long as they are happy with who they are and that God would be proud of their actions, that other people’s opinions don’t matter.

Its ok to take risks and its ok to fail. I want my children to know that its ok to fail. Failure is not an indicator of their self-worth. When we are too scared of failure to take any risks, we are really already failing. I want to raise children who are strong and brave and willing to go after the things they want in life.

Have an opinion – and make sure its an educated one. It is so important to think for ourselves. I want my children to make informed decisions about the issues around them. I want them to vote in elections and take a stand for the things they believe in. But, I want these opinions to be educated. I want them to know how important it is to be informed and have an opinion that is based on evidence – not because someone else told them they should think that way.

You only get one body – value your health. Health is so important in our house hold. I want my children to grow up being mindful of that and I want them to value good health. It is truly a blessing when we are healthy. But it doesn’t come for free. I want them to know it is important to treat our bodies well. I want them to get up and move and to make good choices for what they put in and on their bodies.

You can always come home. Perhaps the most important lesson of all that I can instill in both of my children is that they will always belong here. There is nothing they can ever do – no mistake too large that would cause my husband and I to turn our backs on them. Even when they are grown with families of their own, they can always turn to us when the going gets rough.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mamas out there – and the mamas to be, too (no matter where you might find yourself in that journey.) I’d love to hear the wisdom that you plan to pass on to your own children in the comments below.