I am originally from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. I am a daughter of an immigrant mother who sacrificed so much to provide my sister and I a much better life that she could had she stayed in Mexico.
As a single parent, my mother paid the price for me to live in a country where freedom of speech is practiced. I have a right to express my beliefs, my values, and am free to worship in any way I chose to. I love that!! I love that we have the freedom we have and have been exposed to.
With that freedom comes many, many ideas and beliefs and everyone wants you to believe how they believe, dress how they dress, live how they live and practice what they practice and here is my take on that. I DON’T HAVE TO.
I don’t want you to come into my space and tell me what me and my child should be learning and how they should be learning it.
I am a firm believer that children should be taught at home on core values, beliefs, and what you stand for. The same should be done for tolerance and acceptance of others’ beliefs with love and compassion without ever compromising your own values.
I want to be the one to teach my children about what we believe as far as sex education goes, gender equality, abortion, how to meditate, and many of the topics the school system is choosing to take on.
Here are some key pointers that will assist you in helping your child understand your family’s core values:
- Communicate – communication is so important because if they are not talking to you, trust me, they are talking to someone else. You should always express to them what you stand for and what is important to the family.
- Listen – Actions speak louder than words so pay attention to what they are not saying to determine if they really understand what you want them to learn or understand.
- Stay calm – Keeping your cool at all times will give your child the freedom to always express themselves if they agree with you or not and by keeping your cool, you will learn what your child is actually learning when they are not with you.
- Do not criticize – EVER, there is nothing worse to a child than to be afraid to come to a parent because they are afraid of being criticized or bullied. Allow them to express themselves without fear of rejection or ridicule.
- Love them no matter what – We need to lead by example and by showing them love, compassion and empathy, they will practice that when they are not in your presence.
At the end of the day, my children are my responsibility. It is my job to keep them grounded, safe, and feeling enough love that when someone outside my family circle tries to teach them something that goes against our core values, nothing will move them.
Keep in mind that you are raising the next generation of great thinkers, world changers, and freedom defenders. YOU ARE THE BEST TEACHER THEY WILL EVER HAVE!
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
