10 Things I Do Every Day To Influence My Child

Let me begin with a story about a funny man. One moment, he would look behind. Then suddenly, he would turn around and close his eyes. He would then open his eyes and look left to right and sit on the road. Then, he would get up and start running. Again, he would look behind and stop. What he was actually trying to do was to get rid of his shadow.

My point is our children are our shadows. They are what we make of them.

As parents, we do things that will influence our child to become better individuals. Some things come naturally to us and we pass that onto the next generation while some habits we consciously inculcate in ourselves hoping they will do too.

Here are 10 things I do everyday to influence my child:

1. Read a book: I believe books are our best companions. I mostly read at night and then tell my little girl about how my story is progressing. I also read out loud to her a lot and she will also read back to me as well.

2. Pray: As a kid, my mom told me that If I chanted God’s name before sleeping, I wouldn’t get nightmares. The legacy continues. Now my kid thanks God every night before going to bed and wishes for sweet dreams for them both.

3. Eat healthy: If there’s healthy food at home, we will eat healthy. We keep plenty of fruits and vegetables stocked up in our refrigerator. I feel so good when she asks me “is this healthy?” before eating something. Sometimes, I bite into a not-so-healthy snack because I love the taste. She’s developing her own taste too. She says “If you don’t try it, how will you know if you like it or not”.

4. Listen to music: I truly believe that “Music is the medicine of mind”. I like to sit with my cup of coffee and listen to music. Now I have company. My 4 year old daughter sits with her pretend cup of coffee and we both enjoy the music.

5. Clean up after playing: I insist we clean up every time we play. I consider it a part of playing. We have a favorite song for it too. “Clean up, clean up, everybody, everywhere, Clean up, clean up, everybody, do your share”. In fact, if any of her friends forget to clean up after a play date, she gets upset.

6. Dance: Frequently enough, we break into a dance together. She loves it & comes up with her own moves.

7. Work: Being a stay at home mom, I don’t venture out into a workplace. I do, however, pursue my hobbies at home. She is little but she understands the concept that her mom needs some time to herself so she uses that time for free play.

8. Talk on the phone with friends: I catch up with my friends now and then and it’s really funny to see her imitate me on her toy phone.

9. Watch tv: Though I restrict myself from sitting in front of the tv for long, I do watch one of my shows once in a while as she enjoys watching her shows like Ghotu Motu Ki Toli. Then, we exchange notes.

10. Tell stories. I mostly try and tell stories with a moral ending. I also tell her the ones about princesses and witches. She enjoys coming up with some very amusing stories herself as well.

Also read more about: I’m A Bigger Influence Than I Could Imagine

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