Parents Need to Be a Role Model for Teenagers

Parents should model what they teach. They should already be the kind of people they want their children to become. The parents should put forth a model of personal integrity and a loving marriage. The greatest gift (besides life) that parents can give their children is a home that is peaceful, warm, accepting, safe and secure. The first great building block of that home is a solid, functional, loving marriage. As an outgrowth of this marital relationship the parents model how to communicate, how to love, how to disagree, and how to negotiate; they model principles and virtues. They are the embodiment of what they teach; they are kind, gentle, hardworking, patient, understanding, tolerant, and resolute in keeping their standards. They are consistent in their instructions, are open and interested in their children, excited about their activities and progress, make the children feel treasured, cherished and important, and they require responsibility, accountability and impose or allow consequences.

All this is done in an accepting manner; never critical or judgmental, harsh or unkind. Parents can only teach a virtue that they possess and model. We teach what we really are and cannot teach anything else. No parent can lead children to where they themselves have not been. Parents cannot lift children to higher ground than they themselves are standing upon. There are no secrets in the home and children can see through sham and hypocrisy. They feel it, they sense it, and so it is necessary for parents to be what they wish to teach their children.

The parent does not say, “Do what I say, not what I do.” Someone has said, “I cannot hear what you say when what you are thunders so loudly in my ears!” Remember, whatever you are, you model, and whatever you model, you teach. By proper modeling the parent invites in the son or daughter to a higher moral life. There is no other way, no short cut, no substitute for proper, good, virtuous role models. You are a model. Whether you like it or not, you are an example and you cannot escape that fact. The truth: we are either good examples or we are bad examples to our children!
From the book “Let’s Fix the Kids” by Dr. James Jones

In a boarding school for troubled teenagers modeling behavior must be the same as Dr. Jones mentions. Staff personnel must live up to high standards and set forth a positive and almost unapproachable role model. Asking a student to do something you, yourself are unwilling to do makes for a bad recipe. If you are considering placing your troubled teen in a boarding school for behavior modification, make sure that the staff are good examples of virtue and high standards.

How To Make A Home-Made Mother's Day Card

Easy Photo Card
We all have them, photos of our kids. Well grab some construction paper or card stock, a photo and some glue and make this adorable little card.

You will need
construction paper or card stock
photo
scissors
glue
glitter
sheer ribbon

What you do

Fold paper or card stock in half to create a card. Have your child write their greeting inside the card FIRST.

Cut photo out in a heart shape. Glue photo to the front of the card, center it and put it high enough to allow space for the bow at the bottom.

Lay down some newspaper, wax paper, or other paper and set your card on that to catch excess glitter. Use glue to pipe a thick border around the photo. Sprinkle the glitter generously over the glue border. Be sure to completely cover all of the glue. Let it dry about 20 minutes. While the glue is drying, tie your ribbon into a bow and trim off the long ends. Once the glue is dry, carefully lift the card up and tap off all excess glitter. Place a dab of glue onto the back of the ribbon and adhere to the card under your photo. Let it dry completely before doing anything else with it. You can add or take away any of the items listed to make it more personal. Have fun with it! Mom will enjoy it forever!

Making homemade cards are fun and easy. You can use nearly anything you have at home. You can take the formula from above but make a few changes like take fabric and paste it to the card stock to add a decorative look to it then add all the other things on top, with a photo or a drawing. Use your imagination, let it run wild.