Maybe you’ve heard it said that “you don’t prepare the path for the child; you prepare the child for the path.” That’s the theme of today’s episode, which begins with Megan sharing a story about a Bible study by Paige Brown. In it, Paige spoke about the prophet Daniel and how no matter what he faced, he wasn’t shaken because he knew the ultimate truth. He could take anything put in front of him and subject it to who he knew God was. Megan was moved by Paige’s quick note about the implications of this for parents. When you’re preparing your child for life, you can’t control everything he or she encounters (nor should we), but if we can teach our kids what’s right and good, they can lean on that no matter what they face.
In this episode, we chat about how to adjust what you do for your kids as they get older. Susan compares it to a funnel. When kids are young, you’re at the top, where’s there’s a lot of space to pour into. As they get older and move down the funnel, the space to pour into gets smaller and smaller. They get to make their own decisions. That doesn’t mean they aren’t using tools and insight you provided them with; it just means you’re not controlling their steps and protecting them from what’s happening around them.
We know how difficult it can be to stay on top of teaching kids the important character traits they need for life, so we picked 12 that are not only important at a young age but will also serve kids well into adulthood. You can find an example below in our printable section and 11 others here on this page. If you want to work on one character trait per month, download our free printable Good Character Traits for Kids calendar and start this month.
Articles We Mentioned
5 Traits of a Well-Rounded Child
7 Core Values Every Child Needs
Susan’s book, The Passionate Mom
Printables We Think You’ll Like
