To be honest being a parent isn’t easy at all. Yes, parenting has it’s perks like seeing our kids grow up and seeing their personalities evolve. Being able to love someone so much and for them to look up to us. It’s pretty amazing in my book. The one thing that scared me when I found out I was pregnant with my son back in 2009 is the responsibility that I was going to take on.
I always wondered how my parents never really hesitated on how they were going to parent my brothers and I. They just had a number of kids on their mind and that number was 4. They didn’t think of anything else like where they were going to raise us. Parenting in Mexico is a whole different world. This is just my opinion. Can’t say much about others but yea that’s my take. Everyones parenting skills is always going to be different. My brothers and I are fine so they did something right. So, I have to start my own path and ideas and see if it works.
So basically trial and error. I have plenty of errors but I also have successes. I’m not perfect at all I’m just learning the whole parenting system and making it work.So my number one task for me is to raise kind and confident kids. I always make sure to emphasize to my kids that kindness is very important. I talk about what’s really going on around the world and I also teach them what has happened in the past. History should never be forgotten in my opinion and it’s important for us parents to teach our kids. One day they will be adults making decisions and they should be ready to make wise decisions and make a difference. I like to grab different books that are age appropriate and go from there. I will add some of our favorite books down below.
Being able to start my own parenting path is very scary because who knows if I’m making the right decisions. Will my kids look back at when they were kids and say different? I mean I look back at my childhood days and wish my parents did. Again they were also learning what’s right for the family. The one thing I am grateful is that my parents would always stand up for what’s right. They always used their voice when someone wasn’t being treated right. They taught my brothers and I that love should be spread everywhere. To treat others kindly and to never mistreat others.
Affirmations that we repeat as a family
- Be The Best You
- Kind is cool
- I am beautiful
Just some affirmations that we like to go over as a family. We do this when we are having breakfast, through out the day or bedtime. We really don’t have a set time for it but I do make sure we say out loud everyday. It will help us all out and hopefully our kids can make it a lifestyle once they are older.
The social media post up above is one of my favorite books to read to my little one. Growing up books were my favorite. I learned so much from them and it was was my escape from my own reality sometimes. My favorite genre was history and fiction. So now that I have my own kids I want them to grow that love for books. As books can direct us in so many ways. It opens our imagination and creativity. So choosing books that will teach our little ones to spread love and kindness is something I look for when choosing new books.
So let’s get together and show our kids that love and kindness is very important so our next generation can be different.
Thank you so much for reading.
Ericka Castaños