Your Child's Best Teacher...Is You

What Happened To Childhood

I raised two great kids while living in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. They had the advantages of museums, athletic and art programs of all kinds--you name it. Kids there need date books--or parents who keep date books for them. In the Washington, D.C. area there are more psychotherapists per capita than any place else. Are you wondering why?

If you happen to be sensitive to energy you can feel the frenetic energy of the space as soon as you come near the suburbs of our nation's capital. The pressure for kids to do well is superceded only by the pressure for them to do many things well! Even the sports are organzied. You cannot get together a pick-up game of soccer or baseball at the local school because organized leagues have the fields reserved for their teams’ practices and games!

I know of people who set their two-year olds in front of computers because the pre-schools will not take children unless they are computer literate. Good thing that is not a requirement for adults to get into college. And what is it about fancy prep schools that are pre-kindergarten? Some parents actually believe their kids won’t get into Harvard if they go to the “wrong” pre-school.

What ever happened to childhood? What ever happened to just plain fun? Where have all the Radio Flyers gone? (The little red wagons.) And generic swing sets for swinging higher and higher and higher or spinning tightly then unwinding really fast? Do kids today ever get a chance to just hang out and relax, free from the fear they are being graded for their performance?

Take a look at entertainment for kids. The images of the youthful stars, the rock stars who are just too young to know what they are singing about. What is the point of youth if not to enjoy it? The little kids in my neighborhood drive their little motor-driven cars and ride motorized scooters. My small town has a coffee house for teens! Actually it is a place where teens can hang out at night and be safe. Why does it have to be a coffee house? What is the rush to be grown up and do like the grown-ups do?

We spend most of our lifetime as adults. Let's support our kids in just enjoying life for the fun of it! Play is an essential ingredient to mental and physical health. In fact, play is good for kids of all ages!

Being In Service,
Ali Bierman

We Are At Once Teacher And Student Productions, LLC
P.O. Box 1692
Culpeper, VA 22701

856-656-0529
info@weareatonceteacherandstudent.com

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Your Child's Best Teacher...Is You

Your child’s best teacher…is you!

If you’re a parent you are a role model. Whether you want to be or not, whether you think you know what you are doing or not—whether you relinquish that responsibility or not you are the role model for your kid and he will do exactly as you do or the exact opposite of what you do. You can choose to take charge of how and what you are teaching your child.

Have you ever heard yourself say, ”He never does what I say.” Well, that is because he does what you do not what you say. How about this one, “How can he be so much like his uncle when they rarely see one another?”

Consider that you treat people certain ways based upon past interactions or what you deem to be the expected behavior in the moment. You may not even be aware you do this. May not? You definitely are not aware or you would be living consciously making conscious choices!

The way you treat people is what determines their interpretations of who you are. They interact with you in a way they deem appropriate—which is likely to be different from how they interact with Joe Shmoe.

I believe my son is so much like my brother, despite their infrequent interactions, because as a kid I (unconsciously) observed how my mom interacted with my brother. I bet if someone could record and describe my interactions with my son and my mom’s interactions with my brother during his youth—I bet they would be very very similar. Yet, on the surface, I am not like my mom. Our parenting styles are quite opposite one another.

You either do what your parents do or you do the exact opposite.

What if you could KNOW what you are doing? Do you think that information would make a difference in your life and the life of your family? You can. I can show you what you ARE doing and what you COULD BE doing instead.

Being In Service,
Ali Bierman

We Are At Once Teacher And Student Productions, LLC
P.O. Box 1692
Culpeper, VA 22701

856-656-0529
info@weareatonceteacherandstudent.com