Do as I say----

We have all heard the cliche, "Do as I say, not as I do."   We all know that in  reality our children will imitate many of the things that we do, both good and bad.  Parents and caregivers are often young childrens' primary role models. Of course we want our children to model values like honesty, integrity, compassion, hard work, dependability, etc.  First of all, we need to be sure to spend time with our children so that they will learn from us. We also need to encourage our children to engage in activities that provide positve role models in their lives.  But as children grow older, they will be exposed to an expanded world that can often include many negative rold models as well.  We should stay aware of who our kids are involved with, what activities are they engaged in and who they see as their own role models.   When our children look up to celebrities or sports figures who make wrong choices, we should discuss this with them.  We need to help our children to realize that just because someone is famous, doesn't mean they make good choices.  We might ask our children why a choice was bad, what do they think the consequences may be and what could that person have done that would have had a more positive outcome.  Finally, we have to remember that since parents can have the majority of influence on our kids, we should try to model what we want them to become.  They will eventually do as we do.