Discipline

Raising children alone is a daunting task but very rewarding.  Rewarding in the sense that kids are a joy to be with especially when they are young.  They will shower you with kisses and hugs when you feel down or when you are tired or basically anytime.  Their “I love you” are music to the ears.  Sometimes it is the fear of losing these simple joys that single moms forget to discipline their kids.

Sometimes, single moms fear that if they discipline their kids they will lose the hugs and kisses.  If your kid made a mistake, it is important to talk to them about it and tell them why you need to punish them. It is important that kids are taught discipline at an early age.  Discipline is one of the most important characters that people need to develop to become successful.  It is easier to teach good values to children while they are young. I love this true story.  A child kept teasing his baby sister regardless of the punishment he gets from his mom.  One day after teasing his sister, the mom did not send the boy to solitude to his room.  Instead, the mom gave her son a whip and asked him to whip his mom.  The boy never teased her sister again.

Sometimes, it is loving their kids too much that cause single moms to loosen the training and discipline. Single moms feel that they need to fill the void left by the dad.  But this is wrong.  It is a wrong way to show love to our children.  Children need to learn to be responsible.  They need to do their share in the housework. They need to respect house rules like being home at a certain time every night. We need to discipline them to give them a strong foundation in facing the challenges of life.  Our society requires rules and they must know that rules are to be followed and not broken.  Besides, the rules that we make are for their good and are ways to ensure their safety. Likewise, single moms must accept that they cannot fill the void left by the dad. No matter how we try, we can never fulfill this task. We can only fill-in in terms of money and our presence. But what is important is that our kids know and feel that we love them and are doing our utmost to ensure that they grow to become the best they can be; that they grow to their maximum potential.

Sometimes, single moms feel that they must do and fix things for their children simply because it’s their job; it’s their duty because she is the mom.  They feel that doing this will make their children feel valuable and loved.  On the contrary, we only make our children useless and irresponsible when we allow them to just scatter things around.  We teach them to be irresponsible when we pick-up after them, when we clean and arrange their rooms instead of teaching them to mind their things and keep their room tidy. We show our love the wrong way and make our children dependent instead of being independent.

 
Sometimes, single moms feel that their kids have had too much emotional issues. Because of this single moms would start loosening their rules. They allow the limit, the boundary of rules to collapse.  That is when they start encountering some problems.  Their kids become irresponsible and undisciplined.  It is true that kids in a single parent home went through a lot of emotional problems but we only add to the problem instead of solving them if we do not discipline our kids.

To love is to discipline.  We love our kids and our only desire is for them to succeed in life.  Discipline is one of the attitudes they need to develop to become successful.  Do not fear. Discipline your children and you and your children will reap rewards.