DEVELOP THEIR POTENTIALS

Uncle walked in and asked for a towel so I asked what he needed it for so I know which towel to give him; he responded that he needed to clean his car windows. Oh, I responded, let my daughter go and do that for you but he responded with "she might not know how to do it".

Please go and show her what you need done and let her do it I said, I then proceeded to remind him of how our parents trained us without any gender bias so we all learnt how to clean, cook, and keep the house tidy from a young age, how most homes had a step stool so kids can reach the kitchen sink and take turns to do the dishes, how we had to climb on the doorway of our parents cars so we could reach out to wash the car roof top.

Good old days right?

Why am I telling you this story you may be thinking; my point is, every child has potential.

Potential: a dormant skill on the inside that requires age appropriate exercise to bring it to life. A latent quality or ability that can be developed so it leads to future success and usefulness.

Our children have it in excess and we have to be intentional in guiding them to discover it and put it to good use.

Providing age appropriate activities that foster self discovery is a good way to start with infants and toddlers, a skill as simple as letting them feed themselves and wipe their faces is a great way of letting them have ownership of meal times and gradually figure out how to take care of themselves.

Doing for a child what they should/could have learnt to do without help is a sure way to kill their potential.

Keep parenting gracefully, you've got this!