PARENTING 101
What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?
Robert H. Schuller
I know a number of parents who have their children attending after school activities. I am aware of the amount of work involved with taking the kids regularly for practice, rehearsals, shows etc. I did that myself when my girls were younger, so I can identify with attending the main event and all that's involved with preparation and arranging with their friends’ parents.
I recall a dinner outing last year, where a friend was talking about her two boys who love rugby and that her husband was attending one of their football games. I saw this is an occasion for fathers and sons to bond.
Also yesterday, while talking to a friend whose son is taking tennis as a profession, it was clear she was proud of her son; her face lit up with smiles as she talked about him. I looked at her with admiration and wondered how much she must have invested in her son's love for tennis. I recognised her support and commitment for his tennis right from a tender age to date and this is commendable. I could also deduce she puts in a lot of effort to encouraging her son even now his an adult. She was quick to acknowledge that he is determined and puts a lot of dedication into his practices (time and energy) but the hard bit is when he looses, he gets very frustrated.
It was interesting to see that the commitment of parents to their children's activities go beyond just taking them for their practice, they also play a role in supporting them, when their expectations are not realised or in situations were the child or their child's team come up short.
In the first place it is great you have a goal, you might fail at reaching your goal but don't give up, just keep at it and you will get there eventually.
To all friends who can identify with children in sports or other activities, share with us how you cheer up your kid.
May he give you the desires of your heart and make all your plans succeed.
Ps 20:4 NIV
Comments
I
Isaiah
This is awesome, indeed our Offsprings needs to be supported 'cos they go far if neglected. Thanks for the Article
O
Ogechi Aideyan
Morning Pastor Anita, my little man turned 3 in December and fortunately, we were not allowed to enrol him into any structured sports activities, however, in the time we are waiting to get him into formal lessons; his daddy has been taking him swimming ???????? the objective first was to get him acclimatised to the pool and now he enjoys it very much, last Saturday, he started to learn to swim on his back. Another activity he is keen on is football ?? , we take him to play on Saturdays in the summer and will cheer him on for every kick or goal scored, the coach hands out a sticker to every child that attends. On one occasion, a stand in coach did not give out any stickers at the end of the session, my son went up to demand his sticker and when the coach said he didn't have it, my little man booed him ( very funny ????). My son also loves cycling : he cycles with his dad after swimming on Saturdays, he knows how to use his brakes now and we are hoping to take off the stabilisers soon. Other sport activities we are keen to see him enjoy are lawn tennis and golf, he has the toy versions of the equipments for those and plays indoors. My husband and I will love our kids to be active and work towards cultivating their interests in different sport activities to stay healthy & strong and possible as our pension fund ????. I will be following the comments on this article as I may glean ideas from here. Thank you for a beautiful post and asking a very relevant question to me Pastor Anita, God's blessings!
E
Edidiong
Dear Pastor, its always refreshing reading your blog, my son is a good swimmer and is in his fifth stage of swimming classes, I'm his biggest fan as I see a world champion swimmer in the making. A year ago when he found it difficult moving from the 3rd stage and almost gave up his lessons, I'd take him swimming with me an perfect his front crawl and back stroke and I make sure I constantly speak words of encouragement to him.
C
Charlotte
Nice post Pastor. I agree, its the parents duty to encourage the child's activities. As always a little encouragement can go a long way!
F
Frau Glauben
Thank you Pastor for this amazing article. As parents, especially mothers, we are the ones entrusted by God to help build our children's character. The words we speak to them and on them can make or break them so we must be ever so careful. It takes the wisdom of God to know where to draw the line between flattering the child and encouraging the child. For instance if the child comes back from school with a "C" grade, it would be flattery to jump up and scream that the child dis excellent. That would be flattery & falsehood depending on the context. If the child always scored an F and then now gets a C, aa a parent, one should let the child know that we acknowledged the progress and use that to let the child know that if the child keeps on working hard, he can score an A. When the child brings an A, by all means celebrate! Back to soccer- my child was playing well but could not get into the competitive team. He felt discouraged. I used the word to encourage him. We prayed together and I kept in touch with the coach. To our excitement, the coach invited him to tryout. After that he got into the team. He was very happy. But he became discouraged because his team mates seemed more experienced. So I has to remind him how God helped him get on the team and that he will excel- that he just needed to practice more. Yesterday he scored one of the winning goals so we were so happy and his confidence is back full swing!! Every child is a winner. They just need prayer and encouragement from their parents and guardians.
M
Modupe Ativie
Wonderful piece ! The role of parents in their kids lives cannot be overemphasized. My daughters are very energetic and are always involved in one school activity or the other. To cheer them up when they feel a bit low, I either get them things they love to eat or promise them a day of fun and games. But I never fail to pray with them and tell them they were made for the top and that the fact that they didn't get it now doesn't mean the best does not belong to them. I love being a mother, best job ever! Its wonderful to see them looking up at you with so much trust and hope. You would never want to fail them!
E
Ehi
Dear Pastor Anita, thank you for this article. My first thought is that this article inspires us to bond as families. Parents need to be there for their children. My son had been trying to get into his school's soccer club for a while. It saddened him a lot that he couldn't get in but I kept encouraging him that if it's something he really wants to do, he should trust God and not give up. I encouraged him to keep learning about soccer and thanking God that he would get in the club. I would even call him a soccer star. When another window opened up to join the club, he was quick to get me to sign the form and submit. Praise God, this time around, he got in. He is so excited and so am I.
F
Frau Glauben
Thank you Pastor for this amazing article. As parents, especially mothers, we are the ones entrusted by God to help build our children's character. The words we speak to them and on them can make or break them so we must be ever so careful. It takes the wisdom of God to know where to draw the line between flattering the child and encouraging the child. For instance if the child comes back from school with a "C" grade, it would be flattery to jump up and scream that the child dis excellent. That would be flattery & falsehood depending on the context. If the child always scored an F and then now gets a C, aa a parent, one should let the child know that we acknowledged the progress and use that to let the child know that if the child keeps on working hard, he can score an A. When the child brings an A, by all means celebrate! Back to soccer- my child was playing well but could not get into the competitive team. He felt discouraged. I used the word to encourage him. We prayed together and I kept in touch with the coach. To our excitement, the coach invited him to tryout. After that he got into the team. He was very happy. But he became discouraged because his team mates seemed more experienced. So I has to remind him how God helped him get on the team and that he will excel- that he just needed to practice more. Yesterday he scored one of the winning goals so we were so happy and his confidence is back full swing!! Every child is a winner. They just need prayer and encouragement from their parents and guardians.
T
Thorpes
Inspiring and rich words. Thank you
D
Debs
Amen! Thank you Pastor Anita
J
Jubilee boy
This is a timely piece, in this generation where parents are investing more time at work or making money.
I
Ifeanyi
Wow, I found you finally.. hehe I hope this is really my Pastor's blog. Ma'am I really appreciate you, I love you so much. I am happy you got your life back, to looking the cheerful and Beutifully amazing woman of God you were. Thanks for everything. God bless you we are expecting twin girls in June :), when they come we will start our own journey of parenting 101.
T
Tobore
Thank you for this piece Pastor. My daughter is one and a half and I take her swimming and to ballet (lol). She is the youngest in her class and does not do anything the teacher says but is first to shout yay! And clap for herself at the end of each dance session. I love watching her enjoy herself. She will get better as time goes by. She has improved on her swimming. I plan to get her to try everything football, tennis, piano, athletics, gymnastics and she can then pick what she likes and we run with it. I enjoy the time we spend together and look forward to more growth together. You are a wondeful mother to me. You encourage me. You made me believe I can do and be anything! You are the best!
D
David
My own story was different while I was growing up. Let me begin by saying that children are like the liquid which you can pour into a mould. If you don't get it right in your child's life you have definitely created a big problem for that child in the future . My dad as a minister of the Gospel falled to play a roll of fatherhood in my life while I was growing up. I hardly remembered how my father looked like while I was growing up. We hardly see him around, even when he is around he hardly comes out to play or talk with us. My mother lived a lonely life as a wife of a pastor. Sometimes I hear my mother calling my father to come out and join us at the sitting room, But he rather preferred to be praying or reading. Each time I go out I jealous other kids who play and talk with their father. This made me as a child to think that pastors are not allowed to relate with their families, I thought as a child that it is a sin for father's who are pastors to relate with their families. This experience damaged my perception about life, it made me hate Christianity, it made me hate pastors as father's. I have never seen him hold my hands as a child, I have never received a word of advice as a father, he is either in church, or kneeling in his room or reading. But thank God that I finally joined a ministry who God used to change everything. And from that day I made up my mind to be a better father, I made up my mind to devote my time as a father to my children and my wife because I don't want such horrible experience repeat it's self in my family. Yes God has called everyone of us to win souls for Christ, But first you have to win your children as a parents before you think of winning others.
C
Cool Prince
What an inspiring article. Thank u so much ma. This goes to show that whatever a child becomes, starts from the home. Parents are both teachers and fans to their children. An abused child (abuse could be in form of negligence) abuses the society, and an honored child builds up the society. Our society is what we make our homes.
C
Cool Prince
What an inspiring article. Thank u so much ma. This goes to show that whatever a child becomes, starts from the home. Parents are both teachers and fans to their children. An abused child (abuse could be in form of negligence) abuses the society, and an honored child builds up the society. Our society is what we make our homes.
B
Blessing
It's true pst Anita and thanks for reminding us once more Time waits for no one and must be used wisely like the sons of Issakar
C
Cool Prince
What an inspiring article. Thank u so much. This goes to show that whatever a child becomes, starts from the home. Parents are both teachers and fans to their children. An abused child (abuse could be in form of negligence) abuses the society, and an honored child builds up the society. Our society is what we make our homes.
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