'Starting Early'

We've probably all heard the old adage 'You can't teach an old dog new tricks', and although I do believe that we are able to change at any age if we apply ourselves, the principle does have an element of truth. Change is more difficult once the patterns of life and attitudes have been set and established in a person.

When a child is born on this earth, although we arrive with our own personality and certain character traits, we are ultimately a clean canvas that needs to be written upon. From the moment we are born our life experiences begin to write upon the canvas that makes up much of our self image, our belief systems, and how we relate to other people.

It is our responsibility as the parents of the child to ensure that those things that are written upon the canvas of our children's lives are beneficial and not detrimental in the long term. As there are so many negative influences that are in the world today that can potentially harm our children, it is vitally important that we take up the role as the chief artist and not leave it to someone else.

If our children are left for extended periods of time in the hands of others, such as day care centres etc. then we are allowing those working there to become the chief artists in our child's life. This is a very dangerous situation unless we know just about everything about all the staff that work there, including what they believe and their lifestyles.

Many children left in day care centres are bonding with the workers rather than with their parents, and this can lead to severe emotional and relational problems later in life. I'm sure that there are some excellent day care centres in our nation, with people who are really committed to helping our children, but there is no-one more qualified to take care of your children than you.

It is important to realise that we are writing upon the canvas of our children's lives every day, and to make each brush stroke count. If we are diligent and careful in our work then our children will come forth as a masterpiece that we can be proud of, and a masterpiece which will thank us in later life for our input.

But if we don't take up the role to teach and train our children for life, then we can be sure that negative life circumstances or other people will. If this happens to our children, we may not be pleased with the end result and they may be severely hampered in life.

Warm Regards
John Nolan
Dads Uni