My family attends church together. I read to my kids most nights. We pray before meals. I make sure to hug them a lot, and verbalize my love. They have a strong sense of right and wrong. We've set boundaries. I am the disciplinarian. They have chores/responsibilities. They've learned not to waste (except paper, apparently). If they make a mess, they get to clean it up. They clean the table, wash the dishes, sweep the floors, take out the trash, clean the walks, vacuum the floors, keep the paper products full, etc. They've learned respect for their body. They've learned about consequences of their words, decisions, and actions. We're still working on being polite and courteous, as well as social graces. They are responsible for their own rooms. Their beds must be straight and tight.
I taught the kids to ride a bike. They've been in the car while I gave driving lessons. My kids have been around the world, lived with people of different cultures; they've been with me to plays by disabled people; they've been on tours of catacombs; they've had tours of historic buildings; they've been present for various important meetings. They have a dog to help them learn responsibility. I do not accept back-talk, fussing, whining, or hurting their sibling. We have a schedule.
Sometimes, I feel like I'm sick all the time, and that that's all they'll remember. My work takes a lot of my time, too.
My parents loved us, but yeah, not much on verbalizing it or affection. My parents were poor while I was growing up, but educated. There was always food, but we did without a lot of other things. For us, too, most of our interaction was farm work. I never learned to swim. I never got to make any real decisions, growing up. I didn't get to choose what I ate, what clothes I wore or anything. I never learned any social skills, growing up. The livestock never complained. I regret that while we were told what to do, we were never told why. No explanations were ever given. My parents changed religions several times, for example. To this day, no explanation. I didn't get to interact with anyone my own age, and find it difficult to do so, now. Actually, we finally decided that we were treated like toddlers, growing up, and raised for a time before we were born. My parents looked down on other people, probably subconsciously, and this rubbed off on my. Not much use on a farm for a one-armed boy. I didn't get to spend time learning wood-working or other skills. I was never exposed to sports. To this day, I have only a vague idea of them. I learned a little about tools from my dad, largely because he was a sucker, and overpaid for POS vehicles.
Any benefit to teaching sports, canoeing, swimming, horseback riding, fishing, hunting, etc?
