Successful Parenting

         From Matthew Kelly's, Building Better Families

    Life is about relationships, and parenting is about preparing

 children for life.  In its very best form, successful parenting is

 a school of virtue.  It is the quality we should be looking for in

 our children.  Are they kind, patient, honest, just temperate,

 courageous, loving, humble, thoughtful, gentle, compassionate,

 persevering?

    You have no direct control over what your children do, but you

 do have control over what you do.  This is where we should place

 our focus.  What we do has more influence upon our children that

 anything we say or any use of parental authority.  And virtue is

 the pinnacle of human action and achievement.  Successful parenting

 can be measured one day at a time by asking, "Today, was I kind,

 patient, honest, just, temperate, courageous, loving, humble,

 thoughtful, gentle compassionate, persevering?"

    Successful parenting in the twenty-first century requires

 determined effort, strength of will and clarity of purpose.  In a

 word, character,.  And virtues are the  building blocks of

 character.  You cannot move a brick wall with a squirt gun.  the

 strength of the culture that our children find themselves immersed

 in every day is monumental,  If we want them to be able to defend

 and celebrate the best-version-of-themselves, we need to do

 everything within our power to equip them with virtue and

 character, and the best way to do that is to model these things

 ourselves.

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