Every parent wants the absolute BEST for their child from the moment they hold their baby for the first time, and even before.  I remember in the months leading up to each one of our children’s births,  imaging whether they would be a boy or girl, who would they look most like, wondering what would their personality be like and what qualities they would possess.  It was fun to imagine what kind of a person they would grow into. As parents we have those visions and dreams for our children. In looking to raise children into kind, honest, hardworking and responsible adults, it’s helpful to ask yourself as a parent “How to do I want my child to end up?” and work backwards.  Here’s what I am talking about, if you want your child to be successful no matter what their career path, they’ll need to develop a good work ethic. That’s a skill you can teach a  child by training them how to do some chores and expecting them to do them with quality work, consistently.  If your want your child to be fiscally responsible teach them early on not to waste money on frivolous purchases, or services.  If you want to raise an adult who is honest you’ll need to teach them that lying is unacceptable and not let them by with it as a child, with appropriate consequences that leave an  impact to send the message that lying is wrong.  If you want to raise kind and responsible adults, set the example yourself, set the bar high and expect that of your child from early on.  Same with good nutrition, exercise and every other good quality you hope your child to have into adulthood.  As adults, we cannot give our child a pass on bad behavior, thinking it’s cute, or not wanting to deal with a problem at the time and just hoping it will get better or thinking they will grow out of it.  Don’t chance it.  Many problems not dealt with can snowball into a bigger problem that are harder to manage, think “little kids little problems, big kids, big problems.”  These lessons can be taught in the moment when you see the undesirable behavior taking place.  Be patient and realize that these lessons can take a while to learn and that they may not learn them the first time around.  That’s ok.  It can be a gentle, “Come on, the family is all cleaning out the garage and yes, you are going to come out with us and not sit in your room watching NETFLIX.  We’re going to head up to Ziggy’s for an ice cream afterwards.  It won’t take long if we all work together and we’ll put on some good music” (maybe even break into some dancing while your sweeping out or spraying down the garage floor.  Teaching and learning these life long desirable qualities can be fun for you all, even creating good memories along the way.  Look for opportunities to impart wisdom and talk to your kids about the admirable qualities you hope to impart on them.  Tell them stories of family members or people in history who displayed these qualities.  You could discuss this at dinner time, car rides, time preparing meals when ever you have little pockets of time to teach these lessons.  The more you do it, the easier it becomes.  I do think as a parent, we develop a sort of “teacher quality” over time. Be confident that you are depositing time and effort into the bank account of your child’s healthy behavior and well being.  When a child knows how to manage themself this contributes to their confidence to take on the world.  Your efforts will be fruitful, and you are gifting them the talents they need to grow into a kind, honest, hardworking and responsible adult who would be a TEAM player and asset anywhere life takes them, making for many Great Days 🍎