MARRIAGE: CLOSENESS WITH CHILDREN
Naturally, every parent will try to inculcate into their children what is right and what is wrong. Moral standards in every walk of life may be taught, but in a friendly, co-operative manner, not thrust down his throat like a set of textbook rules. This will never be accepted, and may only breed resentment.
Closeness with your children can mean that the communication gap will never open up, and thus a major hurdle is overcome. So many parents and children look on the generation gap—the time-distance between them both— with awe. It exists in many, many families, and prevents meaningful communication. Each believes he is in a different world, and in effect this is true. But if the drift can be prevented in the first place, their worlds can be identical.
Children should learn to respect the property of others, and this is easier when there are several children in the one family. In fact, learning to give and take and share physical property (as well as responsibilities) comes easier and more naturally the more there are in the family circle. Often, of sheer necessity, each must learn to share to make everything go around.
Let your children know that they must work for what they get in life. Many parents sensibly attribute monetary values for things, particularly as the children become older. Money doesn’t grow on trees, but many children believe it does, having enormous numbers of items thrust on them during childhood.
Very often, the more a person has, the less he appreciates it. If he has to work for it, to make some physical effort to gain what he wants, pride of ownership means so much more. For this reason, many parents will give the child so much “pocket money” as he gets older, on a regular weekly basis. But for this he may be expected to do a certain number of listed chores. In this manner he is getting to know the value of money, and this may help inestimably in his future life. He learns values, and the fact that nothing comes for free in this world. Some parents may disagree then with this, but in principle (probably with some sort of modification to suit the situation), I believe it to be sound.
*15/76/5*
