Raising a respectful child is hard work, but it’s also rewarding. We all want our children to be successful members of society and we want them to be happy and healthy. And yet, as parents, we often find ourselves second guessing ourselves when we see our child behaving badly.
Parenting is a very personal and intimate process. The ability to parent a child can be one of the most important decisions you make in your life. While there are a lot of different personalities and qualities that go into parenting, here are 6 habits of moms who raise respectful children.
6 Habits of Moms Who Raise Respectful Children
1) They teach manners
Manners are critical when raising respectful children. To children, good manners mean being polite and courteous to others. But as parents, we know there’s so much more to it than saying “yes ma’am” and “no ma’am.”
Manners are about politeness, yes, but they’re also about an inner quality within one’s personality. To raise respectful children, having manners isn’t just for show. It’s a lifestyle and respect shown to others.
By teaching your children manners, you’re also teaching them about the value of respect. Respecting others and treating them like you would want to be treated is when manners are born.
As the Bible says in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
2) They lead by example
If you want to raise respectful children, model this behavior. Kids are notorious of modeling their parents qualities and mannerisms, both good and bad. So if you want your children to be respectful, make sure you are respectful too.
This means not to spout of foul language or negative remarks about others. Don’t act out or in an ugly way if you don’t want your children acting like that too.
Respect also comes from the Lord. 1 Peter 2:17 states, “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God…” When you honor and love others, and treat them the way you would want to be treated, your children will also mirror this behavior.
3) They create rules and boundaries
If children are left to their own devices and have no structure, no rule book, then they will not see the line between good and bad, to put in simple terms. When children have no rules to follow, they are not able to learn the importance of right from wrong, good and bad, consequences, and rewards. They won’t know how to feel proud of themselves when they do the right thing, about resisting temptation, or about “crossing the line” when it comes to treating others with kindness and respect.
When you give rules to your children, you raise them to follow the rules to do good. But going even further, they need to understand why there are rules to follow. This is when you pull out your Bible and read the Bible together.
When you read the bible together, you can discuss God’s ways and why it’s important to be Christ-like. You’re able to explain right from wrong, good and evil, and the conversations will rabbit trail into other wonderful conversations.
Creating rules and structure for your children will help them lead a virtuous life and become an amazing person.
4) They acknowledge when they are wrong
It is very important to practice humility in front of your children so that they can see you admit when you’re wrong. On the contrary, if your children are always witnessing your pride and how you are adamant of never being wrong, they may grow to emulate this behavior as well.
Raising respectful children means also to instill the capability of humility. It also means that they know what pride means and why they shouldn’t be too proud to admit defeat.
This teaching stems all the way back to when the devil fell from grace and was kicked out of Heaven. It was his pride that motivated him to turn evil against God. And it was his lack of humility that keeps him there.
By showing your kids that it’s honorable and right to admit when you’re wrong, they will be respectful of those who are also in the wrong as well as stand up to claim their own humility.
5) They give kids their complete attention
Parents raising respectful kids know that it’s important to give their children their undivided attention. This shows the kids that you are respecting what they have to say and that you find them important. Kids need to feel that importance from their parents and, in turn, they will do the same mirroring this behavior.
When you give kids your complete attention, you’re telling them how much you value them, what they say, what they think, even how they think. You’re telling them nonverbally that you respect what they have to say and you give them the time of day to say it.
Kids learn respect through this because they will, then, show the same respect to others. They are less likely to be one of those people who are constantly interrupting others, not listening, and being disrespectful when others are talking. They’ll even grow up to one day mirror your sweet parenting to their own kids!
6) They have a positive mindset
Having a positive mindset is critical in several ways, and it’s just as important when you’re raising respectful children. When you have a positive mindset, you aren’t allowing ugly thoughts to take over your mind. You’re overcoming Satan’s whispers of terror or the worst case scenario. You maintain hope and faith that good will be the outcome and that God’s Will will be done.
Kids learn about adopting a positive mindset through their parents more than anyone else. They learn that having a positive mindset also means holding onto faith.
And I’ve always been a huge believer that your words and thoughts are POWERFUL. They set the tone to your day, your life, and they become the motivating factor of your follow-through and actions.
If you have ugly thoughts all the time, you’ll act accordingly. And I doubt you would be very good company to be around! But if you have positive thoughts, your heart will genuinely be in a happy place, and your actions will portray this. (Matthew 12:34)
Moms raising respectful children understand the importance of positive thinking. And all throughout the Bible, you can read how thoughts play a major role in our lives.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. (Isaiah 55:8)
Have a positive mindset and you will act in positive ways. Your kids will witness your positivity and will adopt it to their own lives accordingly, which will naturally create them into become respectful people.
You can’t just decide one day to raise your kids to be respectful.
It’s a lifetime lesson that you’re always teaching your children. Kids will mirror how the behavior of their parents most of all, so be sure your habits are in line with how you want your own children to behave.
Raising respectful children is a lifetime reward – both for you and for them as they go through life!
