THE EDITOR, Sir:
YOUR CHILD'S greatest need is that of security. Knowing that 'mommy and daddy' cares. There is no better way to convey your love than to spend time with your child. Dr. Smiley Blanton from LOVE or PERISH said, "No one who has brought up a child can doubt for a moment that love is literally the life-giving fluid of human existence. Hours invested in your child will produce dividends now and in the future. Quality time will help to build a relationship moment by moment and that will be the basis for a lifelong friendship between the two of you."
For your children, all of the time that you spend together can be 'quality time', because it is then that they have what is most essential to them - your time. Give your child the gift of your time as only good can come from such actions.
Remember to:
1. Hug your children.
2. Teach all your children responsibility from early.
3. Talk to your child, not at him.
4. Teach your children by your kind words, your actions and by your temperament.
5. Whenever you are discussing anything with your child, get to their level and look them straight in the eye.
"Communication is to parenting what reading and directions are to following a recipe; mutual understanding will develop when both parents and child communicate clearly their feelings, experiences and perceptions," says Denise Chapman in her book Playful Parenting.
6. Never miss the 'firsts' in your children's life...The first word spoken, the first steps taken, the first day of school, the first graduation, the first game won or lost, the first BIG success.
I am, etc.,
PAUL MESSAM
President, Acadia Citizens'Association
Wickham Avenue
Kingston 8
