parenting tips

- before your child is born, make yourself into the person you want your child to be.
- when you child is born, live the thought of "these children are not mine, they belong to God."
- parenting is a form of seva - an act of devotion.
- the purpose of parenting is to bring up a child who will be a gift to the society not a burden.
- a gift to the society is defined as someone with inner-strength, not necessarily someone who is rich, educated, or someone with degrees. a person with inner weakness would become a burden to the society even if he/she is successful in material world.
- parenting is also an opportunity for us to evolve spiritually.
- the degree of our attachment to the children is proportionally equal to degree of weakness inside the child.
- the most important aspect of parenting: Love your child as God.
- we need to balance the three aspects of our child development:
1. their own tendencies (vasanas)
2. what we provide to them: values, food, ...
3. what society imposes on them


-- paraphrased from a lecture by Swami Prakashananda, Chinmaya Mission June 18th 2007