Tools

The world is and will always be a part of every one's life.  Children are influenced by all they see and experience.  Parents do have a special role in their lives in that they are usually the closest to the children and thus also the first role models.

Controlling the external world is impossible.  Sheltering your children works up to a point.  There is a time when they do need to experience the world and make their own mistakes, when they do need to learn to keep up with our fast changing technological world and not loose their identity.

Instead of controlling the world around them, when you lead by example you are planting "coping seeds" in your children. By modeling your ideals and showing how you implement them on a daily basis in interactions with them and the world around, you are giving them tools they can use when they find themselves in similar situations. Modeling behavior doesn't mean that you have to be perfect.  Quite the contrary.  It is how you respond to mistakes that makes a difference.  It is about how you show up in the good AND in the bad that counts.  The broader the exposure, i.e. the more open you are (and that also means you adapting to and keeping up with this ever changing world), the larger the tool arsenal for your children.

The more positive tools children are given on their way, the better off they will be when they do face the world on their own.  That is why parents are so important.  They are the first tool makers.  :)

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