A good reminder

At my last MOPS meeting a prayer was said that I felt was really touching and meant a lot to me as a mother. I wanted to share it here in hopes that it will touch another mother or father. I have heard a christian family that I highly respect say that as parents we should praise our children 10 times more than we correct them. They also say that when the praise is done in front of others it is even more powerful. You can multiply the power by how many people are in the room that hear the praise. This is something I try to follow everyday. It resonates with me and I believe it is a true and good practice as a parent. Being raised as a young child in a family that was deeply divided on this topic, my father was a believer in strong corrections and ruling with an iron fist, my mother was on the opposite spectrum, I find that the pain that remains from the harsh cristicsm I received as a child only hinders me as a person and makes me self doubt any good decisions I make. In our personal life positive reinforcement works very well for my husband and I. The joy in my sons face when we praise him is so much more powerful than the times we lose our patience and correct a little too harshly. This prayer provides a good reminder to me of how I should be treating my child and it helps me to know that I am not alone in this journey.

A Parent’s Prayer

O Heavenly Father, make me a better parent.
Teach me to understand my children, to listen patiently to what they have to say and to answer all their questions kindly.
Keep me from interrupting them or contradicting them.
Make me as courteous to them as I would have them be to me.
Forbid that I should ever laugh at their mistakes or resort to shame or ridicule when they displease me.
May I never punish them for my own selfish satisfaction or to show my power.
Let me not tempt my child to lie or steal.
Guide me hour by hour that I may demonstrate by all I say and do that honesty produces happiness.
Reduce the meanness in me and when I am out of sorts help me, O Lord, to hold my tongue.
May I ever be mindful that my children are children and I should not expect of them the judgment of adults.
Let me not rob them of the opportunity to wait on themselves and to make decisions.
Bless me with the bigness to grant them all their reasonable requests and the courage to deny them privileges I know will do them harm.
Make me fair and just and kind.
Fit me to be loved, respected and imitated by my children.

(unknown author)