Expressing Favor for our Children's Good Works

While it is important to affirm our children of their physical attributes, we are encouraged to affirm them more of their good works. We want to highlight the values that they have learned and make them remember that we have affirmed them. According to Ken Wilson, author of the The Obedient Child, he writes, "We look for opportunities to 'catch them doing it right.' And we let them know when we have caught them doing it right by saying, "Well done."

He further writes, "Instead of making a big fuss over things such as good looks or natural athletic ability, we should express our favor concerning the things that are pleasing to God." I was struck by this line since I noticed that I have a greater tendency to tell my kids how good they look in the clothes they are wearing or with their new hair. It's a natural reaction for me because I find pleasure in seeing my kids being presentable and just being cute. But I realized that it is more important to acknowledge their good works. One time, my 2 year-old, Sev, shared his chocoloate drink with his Mom. Remembering this point, we then took time to say, "I'm proud of you Sev for sharing your favorite drink." Then he gives me a big smile, knowing what he did is good.

Expressing favor is an important part of raising our kids. With a mix of discipline and affection, we hope to form our kids to become closer to the character of Christ.

Giving The Best Milk For My Baby

Being a mom is one of the greatest blessings I've received in my whole life. When i gave birth to our first born son, Sev Philip i was determined to give him only the best! Even when Sev was in my tummy we would pray for him, caress him and talk to him. I ate only nutritious food, veggies, fruits and drank daily my Anmum milk and fruit juices. I never drank an ounce of Soft drinks nor any alcoholic and caffeinated beverages. We followed doctors advises and took all the vitamins that an expectant mom should take.

When Sev arrived, it was already given that i will breastfeed him. Mom's milk is the best milk for my baby. A friend once said, " Why will I give my baby cow's milk when She's not a cow?!!!" Breastmilk has endless benefits to moms and babies. I fully breastfed Sev until he was 6 months old. No water, no food, nothing but my milk. At 6 months he started eating boiled Brown Rice, Potato, Squash, Sayote with my milk. Sev was feeding milk from me until he was 1 year old and 9 months old.
I have a reason to believe Sev is strong and healthy because of the milk and our love for him. Despite all the inconvenience of breastfeeding, its blessings are a lot more!
I've breastfed Sev in all areas you can think of, at home, in the office, in church, in the mall, in Enchanted Kingdom, in Dubai, in Lost Paradise Bahrain, in the plane, in the boat, in the jeep, in the bus, and yes, even in the toilet!
I don't have a slightest regret in giving my son the best milk I can give him. Because of breastfeeding my bond with my son is strong, nothing and no one can break.

Making Champions of Your Children

I have read a portion of Stephen Covey's book Principle Centered Leadership that talked about Making Champions of Your Children. Here are his 10 tips:
1. We work to build our child's self-esteem
2. We encourage primary greatness (character building)
3. We encourage them to develop their own interests
4. We try to create an enjoyable family culture
5. We plan ahead
6. We try to set an example of excellence
7. We teach them to visualize to help them realize their own potential
8. We adopt their friends
9. We teach them to have faith, to believe and trust others, and to affirm, build, bless, and serve others
10. We provide support, resources, and feedback

Our hope for our kids is to have a winning attitude. This can be brought about by a positive influence from us parents. May these principles help us in raising our kids.

Amazing Benefits of Breast Feeding

Two days ago, my wife won a contest over facebook. The contest was about voting for a picture of the "wierdest place you have ever breast fed" by clicking 'like' on the picture. She won a Spectra breast pump from BabyMama Co. She was so ecstatic about it.

Amazing how the Lord has provided Moms with all the food that babies need at birth and in the next 2 years. We always hear in TV commercials, "breastfeeding is still best for babies up to 2 years." So it is true. According to Wikipedia on breastfeeding, here are the benefits of breastfeeding to babies:

Less necrotizing enterocolitis (acute inflammatory disease in the intestines of infants) in premature infants
Greater immune health
Fewer infections
Less tendency to develop allergic disease
Protection from SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome)
Higher intelligence
Less chance of developing diabetes
Reduce the risk of extreme obesity

Here are the benefits of breastfeeding to the Mom:
Bonding
Hormone release
weight loss
natural postpartum infertility
long-term health effects

Amazing! God indeed provides. Happy breastfeeding to you Moms out there!