A parent’s number one job is to set a good example for their children. If they can do this as much as possible, they will know that they are doing the right thing and that their children will grow up to be good people. Of course, mistakes happen, and problems occur, but if you keep this idea of setting a good example at the forefront of your mind, for the majority of the time that’s exactly what you will do.
There are, however, plenty of bad habits that we all fall prey to at times. If you want to set a good example for your children and quit some of those bad habits you have, read on to find out more.
Drugs And Alcohol
Drugs should never be taken, and alcohol should never be drunk to excess. They can both damage your body and mind massively, sometimes irreversibly, and even if your health doesn’t suffer, your relationships – including those with your children – can suffer. You might even lose all contact because the substances you are consuming make you into someone who is just not good to be around.
Quitting these habits (which can easily become addictions) is not always going to be easy, but it must be done. Make sure that you ask for help; speak to a medical professional or therapist, ask for family to help you, or check into drug rehab in Georgia. Never go ‘cold turkey,’ or you could become seriously ill.
Negative Self-Talk
It’s so easy to fall into the trap of negative self-talk; we will spot something we don’t like about ourselves and then start to tell ourselves about it. We’ll keep saying that we have negative traits until we start to believe it.
Negative self-talk like this does no one any good. It doesn’t help you because it constantly pushes you down and makes you feel down, or perhaps even depressed. Neither does it help your children who look up to you – they don’t want to hear bad things said about their parent (even if it comes from the parent themselves), and it could start them questioning their own abilities and looks. Always be positive, and your children will be too.
Your Smartphone
Smartphones are truly addictive, even if we’re not entirely sure why. Even if we keep checking the same messages and social media feeds, we still can’t seem to stop, yet we must. Spending time with your children is important, and making special memories that they can look back on when they are older and feel good about is crucial. They need to feel they can come to you whenever they need to, and talk to you about anything.
If you are constantly distracted by your phone, they won’t be able to do that, and any memories they make will be of you staring at a screen. No one wants that to happen, so quit the habit now before they are too old to care.
Yes, yes, yes! Negative self-talk is huge. I think we often mistake it for humility, but it’s just not. 🙂 If we can learn to speak respectfully about ourselves, we invite our children to do the same. I used to do a lot more negative self-talk, but the habit CAN be broken!
Also, currently working on minimizing phone time. 😉