Setting a good example to your children is a must if you want them to grow up to be well rounded individuals. You can’t control their personalities or what they do with their lives, but you can do your best to make sure they grow up to be good people. When there are so many outside influences, where do we start?

Act How You Want Them To Act

Think of all of the traits you want your children to have. Do you want them to be honest, kind, caring? Whatever it is, make sure you mirror how you want them to act. You can’t always force them to act a certain way, but by showing them through example, they’ll learn. They’ll learn better this way than having you tell them outright. If they can see you doing it, they’ll hopefully realise how important it is.

Eat Your Greens

You can’t expect your children to get their 5 a day if you don’t eat your vegetables. Children usually learn their eating habits from their parents, so make sure you eat your greens along with them. Enjoy them too. Just make sure you don’t mention anything about weight or being under/overweight. This can give children a complex for life! Think about what you say and the impact that can have.

Take Care Of Yourself

Take care of yourself so your children can see how important that is too. Not only by eating right, but by generally looking after yourself properly. You also want to make sure you take care of your health, by taking preventative measures but also getting seen to when you’re sick. To make it easier when you’re ill, you can get an online doctors appointment. I know many people with children who do this as it’s more convenient! Taking four children with you to the doctors is not ideal.

Work On Your Own Self Image

If you have a negative self image, it’s easy to pass this onto your children. You can tell them they are healthy and perfect all you like, but if you talk negatively about yourself, then they’ll pick up on it. They may begin to think that this is how you should speak to yourself, and become overly critical of themselves too. Work on your own self image so your children know how to treat themselves and how they should be treated by others. This is something I’m not great at and really need to improve on.

Don’t Judge People

Judging people is far too easily done these days, and when it’s done in front of children they learn that it’s OK. Whether somebody is overweight, underweight, has brightly coloured hair or wears strange clothes, you shouldn’t judge them. If your children ask you questions, answer honestly without judgement. Let them know that everybody is individual and that must be respected. This is probably the thing that I try to instill the most. I try to get them to imagine how they would feel if someone judged them. The children continue to make me very proud with regards to how they respond to others and I am always told by others how caring and understanding they are which is very reassuring. 

Be Honest

Being honest in front of your children will teach them that it’s always the right thing to do. If you knock somebody else’s vehicle when there’s nobody else around and drive off without doing anything, this sends a message to them.

No parent is perfect. Everybody makes mistakes, whether they know it or not. Setting a good example to the best of your abilities means you won’t have much to worry about later on. Happy parenting and enjoy your children!