Teaching Compassion

My son's daycare center used to do this little project where they would "feature" a child a month in each class. When you were chosen to be featured, then the child and/or the parents would make a poster to hang beside the classroom door.

I really enjoyed this project. My son spends most of the day with these kids and I know most of their names but that is about all I knew about them. When they were featured and a poster was done it would always have pictures of their life outside of school and pictures of them with their families. It would include their likes and dislikes, their pets and favorite toys or any other thing the parent wanted to include. This was always lots of fun to see what the other kids did and the classes could discuss the posters during the days and maybe even try out some of the favorite foods or activities that were featured on the poster.

We are very fortunate that our daycare center has a diverse background of families. Everyone does not look the same, everyone does not speak the same and everyone certainly has not developed and met milestones the same. This adds a degree of humanity to my child's life that I may not be able to add on my own. I am appreciative of the families that have embraced my child and are bringing knowledge of other cultures to his life.

We use daycare as both my spouse and I work full time but you do not have to use a daycare to find diversity in your child's life. If you are a stay at home parent there are still ways to meet other parents that may not be just like you. Go to story time at the library or local bookstores, go to the children's museum, go to the local playground or even to an indoor playground in the mall or fast food restaurant. Try not to be shy about introducing yourself to other parents but if that is not something you can do then think about joining a local parenting group. In this area there are several groups that get together during the day for play dates and they are almost always looking to add new members. You can go to Google and do a search for playgroups in your city.

It is important for kids to know that not everyone will look like them or have the same amount of money as them. Kids need to learn that being different is not a bad thing. The sooner a child learns humanity and compassion for people that are different than he is, the more likely we can battle playground bullying together. Compassion begins at home and it is one of the most important lessons you can teach your children. They learn by watching you so before you are rude to a cashier or scream at a driver that cut you off, remember that your child is learning how to interact with people by watching you. We all want our kid's lives to be better than our own but in order to achieve this we must first improve our outlook on our own lives.

What are your kid's dreams?

Well, we have all heard the news now of the thirteen year old boy, Jordan Romero, that has now climbed Mount Everest and is now only one peak away from climbing the highest peaks on each continent.This is a feat that only 200 people before him have completed and none of them have been as young as he is.

In May, sixteen year old Jessica Watson became the youngest person to ever sail around the world solo, non-stop and unassisted. She is only one of 166 people to complete this feat.

These are just two examples of amazing accomplishments by kids. We have all heard numerous stories of kids that have founded non-profit organizations, written books and invented amazing contraptions that change the world. There is no loss of amazing stories of these kids and I am not here to debate whether the climbing and sailing solo feats are safe or even advisable. I am here to ask the parents a simple question: What do your kids dream of doing?

Do your kids want to climb a mountain or is the mountain just figurative for them and they want to accomplish other great things? As kids, we all dream big; but as parents how do we encourage these dreams? I really do believe that anyone can grow up and be President, but how do I nurture that if it really is my kid's dream? Do I let his main focus in school be history or should we be more concerned with current affairs? How many languages does the president speak and how many should my son learn? Do I bring him up around the super rich or do we stay within our economic group? These are all questions that are geared toward presidency but every kids wants to do something and be somebody.

Do we sometimes crush their dreams because we do not think we have the financial resources to make them come true? Even more importantly, do we sometimes crush their dreams because those are not the dreams that we had picked out for them? When I was pregnant, I wanted my son to grow up and be a marine biologist because I thought it was so interesting and it was probably Shark Week on the Discovery channel. He will be starting swimming lessons this summer so maybe I am starting to push him in the direction I want him to go already, or maybe I just don't want him to suffer any damages when we go to the pool. These are all things that we must ask ourselves at sometime in our life.

Being the parent means we have to answer the tough questions but are we really prepared to answer them? There are grants available to kids that want to give back to the world and the kids that have other dreams can try to find mentors and sponsors in their dream line of work. It is never hard to dream but it is usually hard to make them come true. As parents we all wish we had a magic wand and "Poof" our kids dreams are now their successes but that is not how life goes.

My first suggestion would be to make a list of your kids dreams. You can not make them all come true but when they are our age they may enjoy looking back at them to see what they were like as kids. Second, realize that not all things that your kids dream are feasible or even truly wanted by your child. Sometimes it is just talk. Third, try to support your child as much as you can in their dreams. If you are accomplishing one of your childhood dreams, let them know and let them experience it with you. Check out books at the library about the dream subject, make some phone calls to people already doing it. I believe the world is inherently a good place and people want to help one another.

Allow your kids to dream big!