By Sarah Chana Radcliffe
You want your child to be able to make good decisions...
We want our kids to be independent thinkers and have a mind of their own - so they can so "no" to peer pressure and so on - but we also want them to be compliant and follow OUR directives. In order to encourage both tendencies, one thing we can do is be careful to give children some independent "space" around our requests. For instance, we can ask them to please carry out a certain responsibility (homework, taking garbage out or whatever) by a certain deadline but leave the exact timing up to their discretion. They can organize their own schedule and do the task when it works best for them. This trains their mind more than a simple, "Please do such & such right now."
We actually have more control than we might think...
Positive thinking and a sense of humor is good for strengthening the immune system. Negative thinking and worry weaken it. Choose your medicine or your poison - your mind is powerful.
