Hi, welcome to the last Tuesday and the last blog post in May 2025! How has the ride been for you? For me, I think I had a fast ride, perhaps the days were running by so we could come to my birthday😁. Either way, I hope you had a beautiful month and an amazing experience altogether. Please, keep walking in the direction of your vision and goals. You’re almost there!
Yeah, right! This particular Tuesday has a special tone to it, and there’s no other reason for this other than the fact that it’s Children’s Day! I hope adulthood has not made you forget what it felt like to be a happy, little soul with little or zero worries and cares. From deep down, I wish you a Happy Children’s Day, and I pray that you will never lose your childlike wonder.
Last week, we checked out a post titled ‘Good Work’ in line with Workers in the Corporate world, but today, as a way of celebrating Children’s Day, we will be checking out good work in the light of Godly parenting and raising children. Therefore, I dedicate this post to all parents and parents-to-be who desire to raise seeds that will be a force to be reckoned with. Even if you are not married, don’t be so quick to exit the post. There’s something here for you to pick.
May I also mention that this post can possibly not capture all that there is to say about parenting, seeing as it is a lifelong commitment. However, let’s take this as a way to remind ourselves about those things we know and already practise as parents, or even as aunties or uncles to our siblings, little cousins, nephews, and nieces. As an unmarried person, it’s a good time to start preparing yourself and practising to be the quality of parent you would love to be.
Having said all that, let’s begin this way! The family, as we all know, is the basic unit of society! This implies that every individual you see out there is a product of one family or the other, none of us fell from the sky☺️. Thus, as people step out of their family circle and into the larger world, they are either accompanied by virtues or vices, many of which have been developed or cultivated right from home.
Let me paint a picture! Try to recall a time when you saw a gang of armed robbers being paraded on TV, or you heard their names being mentioned on the radio, are you aware that two names were mentioned, their first names and then family names? And boy, some even have beautiful name combinations! That should call our attention to something, these people equally came from certain families!
It is God’s design that the family setting will be our first training ground and institution to develop excellent traits before stepping out into other formal settings and institutions. From this basic unit, we start to learn to differentiate between good and bad, and discern right from wrong, such that we carry this information and understanding into our other relationships in society. This idea can be only achieved by Godly parenting, which of course, is always good!
The Bible as our guide for all that pertains to life gives us many clear examples of both good and bad parenting, as well as the outcomes. Every path has its consequences, whether positive or negative. For us to have good outcomes, and for God to have a remarkable return on investment over our children, we must put in good work, and even do the best we can.
Here, we will be talking about some of the responsibilities parents need to diligently pay attention to, which cut across different aspects of the children’s lives; their faith and love walk with God, physical, psychological, and intellectual development, self-esteem grooming, good morals, among many others. There’s definitely a lot to mention, but let’s talk about the few we can. Shall we?
As a parent or parent-to-be, you have to make an investment of prayer in your children’s lives. This begins right from the womb and continues till you breathe your last. Prayer cannot be underrated as it influences every other aspect of a child’s life. Prayer births results and brings about numerous changes. Start investing in prayer today!
As you pray with and for your children to show them how it’s done, teach them the word of God as well. Read and tell them Bible stories even before they actively start to pick up words. As you engage sound educational materials in training your infant and toddler, do not neglect the Bible. As they grow, include faith-related discussions in your conversations with them.
Nothing should stop you from carrying that child along with you when you’re going to church activities. The fact that there is a department that caters to children in the church setting makes it even more beautiful. When you go with your children to services, allow and encourage them to join their peers. That way, they get to learn and grow with people of like mind.
As times are changing, children are becoming more inquisitive by the day. It is therefore important that you are available to answer their intelligent questions intelligently. Don’t shun them or discourage them. Give them the best possible and honest answers that will stir their convictions in the right direction and help them stand boldly.
Children are often more gifted than we can imagine! These gifts that they have can be nurtured by investing in their skillset acquisition. Don’t join the train of people who turn a blind eye to children’s interests and abilities, or even scold them for certain interests they have. Give your children the support they need to develop those skill sets and even become better. You never can tell the next world-class talent you’re grooming right under your roof.
To the best of your ability and resources, make sound formal education available to them. Likewise, provide them with every resource needed, including those that have to do with a beautiful and decent physical appearance. This helps to build their esteem in no small way even as they grow and relate with their peers.
We must learn to be our children’s friends and be interested in their petty talks and little friendships. They might want to tell you about a certain ‘Victoria’ who collected their pencil, a certain ‘Victor’ that hissed at them, or a particular ‘Vivian’ that has their exact water bottle design. Give your ears to those little talks and even contribute or respond in ways that they will understand by coming down to their level.
As you do this, you are building their trust and confidence in you, with them being assured that they can tell you anything without fear. You will get to appreciate this bond developed in early childhood better as they travel into the teenage years when conversation tends to become a challenge. However, the earlier you build and gain their trust, the better for everyone.
It is also important to identify with and acknowledge key changes in their physiological processes and be available to allay their fears. As they approach puberty, they start to experience different body changes, some of which might leave them confused or even withdrawn. At this point, you have to be physically and psychologically present to their needs, even when they are not saying anything.
I have to call your attention to a very key part of parenting which culture has somehow affected, but I believe the narrative is gradually changing and getting better. I’m talking about the issue of subtly neglecting male children, especially when they become teenagers, which is often from the mentality that they should be toughened up because they are ‘the men of the home’.
Please, affirm your children in words, no matter their gender. Give as much attention to them, be it a boy or a girl. Be kind with your correction and discipline, and let all be done in love. No child should be abused or made to go through traumatic experiences in the name of discipline. Let’s bring up a generation of children that are sound in spirit, soul, and body.
As you give them the gift of resources, they desire and need even the gift of your time much more. Spend quality time with them in and out of the home environment. Create beautiful memories with them that will build great traits and be the bedrock of a beautiful parent-child relationship.
Also, I have this to say; teach them kindness and lead by example! Children learn faster by observation and are very quick to practise what they see. It might seem like they don’t know what is going on, but trust me, they see all and new information is being stored in their reserve. You’ll be surprised at the depth of good or bad knowledge they have picked up by the time they start to replay certain things in words or deeds.
There’s a lot more that can be said, but we’ll have to peg the discussion here. However, above all, involve God in your parenting styles. This matters to Him as well because you are raising His heritage, and they must turn out well. Let him show you how best to raise that child He has graciously given to you.
My tribe member, I have a big request to make of you! It’s my birthday tomorrow, the 28th of May, 2025!💃🎂 I hereby covet your prayers as I add a new year. Thank you for saying a word of prayer for me!
Wow, thank you so much for reading the post to the very end. You already know I love to read your comments as well, kindly drop one below. Once again, I wish you a Happy Children’s Day! I am sincerely grateful for the all-time support you give to this vision, thank you for being a part of my tribe. I’ll see you in June!❤️
