Family and Faith Magazine June-July 2015 | Page 26

PARENTING HOW TO RAISE Grateful Kids By Family and Faith Magazine Writer Chris Brodber W ow! A little girl hit her mother? How come?! Well, remember the computer programmers’ adage GIGO, "Garbage In, Garbage Out"? It pretty much boils down to that. What went in came out. Because children are like computers or fertile land, what goes in will ultimately come out. Yes, things can spring up that weren't purposefully planted but a watchful programmer or farmer will easily identify and tackle ‘viruses’ or ‘weeds’ so that most of what springs forth would have done so by design. Parenting must be like that purposeful planting or programming. So, what does it mean to raise grateful children? I don't know of any parent that sets out to raise a son they'll eventually be afraid of. And I figure most people 26 familyandfaithmagazine.com don't plan to raise a daughter who will later unfold expletives aplenty to them. Everyone wants to be appreciated and respected, including parents. So, that's what we are after here, how to raise respectful and appreciative children. We all know children that we strain to smile with because of their behavior. You love them because they are children, but some you'd prefer not to be around because they are downright rude and out of order. Someone said "the worst thing in life is a child with no behavior". Some children are so troubled and misguided that they horribly abuse their parents. I saw on Facebook a video where a man stepped in to rescue a woman from her aggressive son. Well, how does a son get to a place where he'd hurt his mother, or “ Everyone wants to be appreciated and respected, including parents. ” father? And how can we attempt to avert this, and even ensure that we won't be bullied by our offspring when we are elderly? What can we do to ensure that we don't raise thugs that torment both us and society? We must work the concept Garbage in, Garbage out! Everything that people do is as a result of a driving philosophy. Cleanliness is a driving philosophy for most persons and so they say "I mustn't live in a dirty house". Therefore, raising ungrateful children is ultimately due to the philosophy we subscribe to.