One of the most helpful exercises I've done as a parent was to consider & write down the things that were passed down to me from my own parents. In a matter of minutes, I was to identify - What were the 2-3 'main things' given to me from my parents?
The follow up question was... From that list, what do you want to make sure to pass along to your own children and what do you know you want to do differently?
Most of us parent our children from our own life experiences, responding as our own parents did or reactively different from our parents (depending on whether it was a positive or negative impression). And really, so much of it is subconscious.
One of the greatest things you can do to lead yourself and parent your children is to figure out the main things and be intentional about keeping them as the main things.
What you write down may even surprise you. I know it did me.
I discovered how my mom had shared a gift of play with me that made me feel special and connected to her. My mom was incredibly busy, but skillful in integrating play into our home life. My play kitchen was next to her kitchen and we cooked many meals together… she babysat my baby dolls, always giving me a full report of their behavior when I returned... would give me old vegetable cans for my grocery store business and we'd traipse about the yard watering the flowers together in the evening. And the list goes on and on.
Those are special memories, and playing together is definitely one of those main things I want to keep for my family.
How about you?
