WHAT
OUR BEHAVIOURS ARE TEACHING OUR CHILDREN BY: ANGELA LOCKWOOD
E
ver used the old “Because I said so!” as a part of your parenting tool kit? I certainly have. This used to work such a treat; a solid end to any objection. But times are changing. Children are switched on and ‘Because I said so’ no longer cuts it. Children are looking at what we do, not just what we say. They are looking to us for guidance and as we experience increasing rates of sickness, burnout from work, and detrimental coping habits we are not painting an aspirational picture. So what are we teaching children about the importance of managing our health and wellbeing?
Through my work as a paediatric Occupational Therapist I have seen over the last decade the changes in how children learn about their place in the world. Even though they can access any information through the internet, they continue to look to adults to help them navigate life. So it is imperative as the speed at which we live continues to hasten that we take the time to notice the messages we are sending our children through our own behavior. Are we actually practising what we preach? It is so frustrating when a manager expects us to do something at work when we know they would never do it themselves! We need to lead by example and if we are to help our kids establish good habits we have to facilitate that by first monitoring our own.
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Peninsula Kids – Autumn 2017