When Princess Peach was 2.5 months old we had her baby naming at our synagogue. This meant that she officially received her Hebrew name, which if you were wondering is Mira Liba named after her great-great uncle and great-great aunt. After she received her Hebrew name our Rabbi made a little speech to us, as her parents and to the congregation. I’m sure like every baby naming that he has done before and will do in the future, he wants to connect with the parents about the life and legacy of their child. One thing especially stuck out in my mind and I think about it often. In short, our (The Hubster and I) jobs as parents is to create the best human beings we can because we don’t own our children. Instead we are teaching them to teach the next generation. It is our job as parents to instill all the good that we can so that our children become the leaders and teachers for the next generation.
I often think about what that means. As a mom, I feel strongly about making sure that The Hubster and I are creating the best people we can. Not only do I want to mold my children to be respectful, kind, empathic, smart people but I want them to be the leaders of their generation. They don’t have to be Prime Ministers or CEO’s but I want them to be leaders in their life, in their community, of their friends and family. I want them to have a fire, a drive and a desire to do good and to give 110% of themselves to whatever they do.
So as a mom of two toddlers how this matter? First off, since Princess Peach was able to talk it was very important for her to know her manners and be praised for using them. So far, so good I think. She remembers the majority of time to say please, no thank you and you’re welcome. It’s so cute to listen to. But beyond the cuteness, I think it is so important for her to know her manners and use them all the time.
Being a good friend. It doesn’t matter that she may not be a good sharer, yet, but I want her to understand the reciprocal interaction between her peers. So no matter where we are with other kids her age, it becomes a teachable (possible tantrums) moment. We work through it and most of the time it is successful.
Princess Peach is an extremely empathetic child. She is always worried about others when they are sad and her teacher and schools always tells me that she will run up and hug her friends and kiss their boo-boos when they are hurt. She has a wonderful understanding of others at 3 that I’m amazed. She just gets it. I can’t wait to see how her empathetic side blosssoms over the years.
The Hubster and I both feel very strongly about our children taking part in an extra-curricular activities. We both were involved in sports and expect our kids to be involved in activities of their choice. Princess Peach seems quite artistic so she will be taking dance and eventually art class (if she chooses). Little Dude seems to be quite technological at 1. He has already mastered the swipe on our iPad and iPhones. Wherever their interests are, we will encourage them to be interesting and involved children and people.
With all the turmoil in our world today, I hope that my children know a world where war does not exist. Where watching countries fight and people die are a thing of the past. That other parents like myself are raising the next generation to be a generation of love, of peace and of kindness. Because if we don’t continue to create those amazing leaders, who will lead the next generation?
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