Intentional Living: Part 4 - Intentional Parenting
Most of you know I recently I suffered my second pregnancy loss. While has been a very difficult time for me it has also reminded me how precious my daughter is. She is God’s gift to me. I hold her tighter and longer now, stare at her more often, touch her more frequently. Even before my loss I would lie awake in bed at night almost in tears thanking God for trusting me with her. She is the light of my life and a true blessing from Him! It is overwhelming sometimes to think of the great responsibility it is to be a parent, but I know that God equips those who He calls - so if He called me to be a mommy, He has also equipped me! I have set very specific goals in my daily routine with my daughter. These do not have anything to do with how we train or discipline her according to biblical principles - that would take a book to discuss! They are simply specific things I want to do to help my two-year-old daughter grow, learn, and flourish; and I believe that they are helping to create a bond between us. Perhaps another time I will share with you some of the many things I have learned (and am still learning) about training my child by following God’s truths from the Bible, but for today I will just write about how I work with her on the simple things each day.
Read together
We have a goal to read to our little girl every single day. This is the easiest goal to meet because she LOVES to read and begs me to read her books for entire mornings sometimes. As a former first grade teacher I know as well as anyone the importance of early reading. When she was very young we taught her to sit still and pay attention so that we could read her entire stories. Now she is old enough to choose and almost recite her favorite books! We also make it a habit to visit the library once a week. As I cultivate her love for reading I am thinking ahead to when she will be in school and these early habits will benefit her!
Train in New Skills
There are a lot of things a little girl must learn how to do that do not come naturally for her. She must learn how to take turns, share, sit still, say please and thank you, respond well to compliments, and a million other things. We usually spend time each day working on a specific new thing that she needs to learn until she can do it well. Sometimes that takes a few days; sometimes a few weeks. Even older kids can benefit from role-playing and practicing - especially when it comes to having polite conversations with grown-ups!
Teaching and Learning
As a former teacher I really can’t help myself - I must teach! I love to teach my little girl songs. We are learning letters - one at a time and very slowly. She has learned to count and is now learning to recognize the numbers. She has learned a handful of verses and is able to learn a new one about every other week. There are a lot of things you can teach your toddler!
Fun!
I also try to make it a point to let my daughter do something fun each day. Sometimes we’ll have fun making cookies in the kitchen. Sometimes she gets her crayons out and colors. Some days it’s play-doh or bubbles. A lot of times it’s a fun morning at the playground. Don’t forget to spend time doing fun things with your children. This is how memories are made and this is how you bond and form a close relationship with your child!
I know there is SO much more to parenting than I have mentioned here. If you want to go deeper there are many books I could suggest to you. These are just my practical daily goals for our everyday life at home. Is there anything you do with your kids intentionally? I would love to hear about it!
Read together
We have a goal to read to our little girl every single day. This is the easiest goal to meet because she LOVES to read and begs me to read her books for entire mornings sometimes. As a former first grade teacher I know as well as anyone the importance of early reading. When she was very young we taught her to sit still and pay attention so that we could read her entire stories. Now she is old enough to choose and almost recite her favorite books! We also make it a habit to visit the library once a week. As I cultivate her love for reading I am thinking ahead to when she will be in school and these early habits will benefit her!
Train in New Skills
There are a lot of things a little girl must learn how to do that do not come naturally for her. She must learn how to take turns, share, sit still, say please and thank you, respond well to compliments, and a million other things. We usually spend time each day working on a specific new thing that she needs to learn until she can do it well. Sometimes that takes a few days; sometimes a few weeks. Even older kids can benefit from role-playing and practicing - especially when it comes to having polite conversations with grown-ups!
Teaching and Learning
As a former teacher I really can’t help myself - I must teach! I love to teach my little girl songs. We are learning letters - one at a time and very slowly. She has learned to count and is now learning to recognize the numbers. She has learned a handful of verses and is able to learn a new one about every other week. There are a lot of things you can teach your toddler!
Fun!
I also try to make it a point to let my daughter do something fun each day. Sometimes we’ll have fun making cookies in the kitchen. Sometimes she gets her crayons out and colors. Some days it’s play-doh or bubbles. A lot of times it’s a fun morning at the playground. Don’t forget to spend time doing fun things with your children. This is how memories are made and this is how you bond and form a close relationship with your child!
I know there is SO much more to parenting than I have mentioned here. If you want to go deeper there are many books I could suggest to you. These are just my practical daily goals for our everyday life at home. Is there anything you do with your kids intentionally? I would love to hear about it!
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