Principal’s blog | Want your kids to be friends when they’re older?

Welcome back to the Principal’s blog. This post goes out to all our families with two or more children. I myself have three young children and felt the need to share a great article with you all. At times my children seem to be each other’s heroes and then there are times when they turn into each other’s worst enemies. My wife and I constantly talk to our children about respecting and caring for their siblings. So when this article popped up in my email I thought it would be a great resource to share with the CCPS community. The habits we create with our family will help them stay connected as they grow.

Some key points:

• Be what you want your children to become – If you want your children to speak politely and not rely on inappropriate language it’s not about telling them not to say those words, but more about you not using those words.
• Establishing a family code of conduct – If you want your children to behave a certain way, they need to know what the boundaries are. If you think it’s important the children clean their rooms before playing on a device, make the expectation clear to them before hand.
• Repairing when we do wrong is more important than never doing wrong – If you want your children to own up to their mistakes and seek to repair relationships they’ve harmed, they will need to see it in action. I try my best not to disappoint my children, but occasionally I have to say to them, “I’m sorry about before, Daddy was a bit tired from work and I shouldn’t have grumbled at you.” It is in these moments I gain forgiveness from my children and they learn making mistakes is normal and an apology can be healing for both parties.
• Create rituals for connection and shared memories – In the Cuss household the end of the week is celebrated with ‘Friday Dinner.’ This is our take away night and we rotate the responsibility of who gets to choose what we eat. More often than not the children want to get some McNuggets but they have also learnt to accept that some nights they will have to try something different. We eat dinner in a different place to during the week and the kids get their ‘special drink’. Afterwards we watch some Mr Bean together before we send them off to bed. ‘Friday Dinner’ is something our children can look forward to each and every week and is one example of a ritual for us to connect as a family.

To read the full article click below:

Want your kids to be friends when they’re older? Here’s how you can help them have a strong relationship

Let me know what family rituals you have. Thanks for reading and take care,

Mr Cuss
(Acting) Principal