Setting your kids up to succeed

As parents we want our kids to succeed in life.  We all have our own methods of doing this.   Some will say that we should send our kids to private school while others try to teach their kids their ABC's by 18 months. Here is what we did.

The first move that we made was to let my wife stay home to raise our kids.  We noticed with my first son that he was going to daycare.  We all know that daycare was a germ factory so he would stay sick.  My wife was spending all of her vacation time at home with the kid who was too sick to take to school.    The other factor was that he hit a bad teacher.  His 18 month teach was fine but at 2, he wasn't doing well in that room.   My wife was constantly filled with mommy guilt that our child was being raised by the day care instead of her.  So we made the conscience decision for my wife to stay home.

The second move was for my wife to homeschool.   I know there various "Schools of thought" pardon the pun, for homeschooling vs public school.  As a matter of fact, we live in a great school district.  However, for our case, my 4 year old was diagnosed with Sensory Processing.   This means that he doesn't function well in groups.  In order for him to get an education at a pace and in an environment that he can succeed, we decided to home school him. 

The third move was for us to have him see an OT for his sensory in order to address his needs.  He was a little behind in his motor skills and especially in dealing with groups.   The OT would address both of these.  Some people have argued that he could get the help that he needs for OT from the school system.  We did talk about that as a couple.  What is best of Aiden.  For us, we found out his OT was sought after from all over the state of GA.   We also didn't want him "Labled" by the school system.

Maybe your child is gifted at sports, so you are opening doors in that area for your kids.  Perhaps, your child is gifted as a dancer or in music and you are encouraging that area of their life.  These are things that we do to set our kids up for success.  The secret is not to obcess over their acheivements.  We don't want to be a "helicopter parent" where we smother our kids.  We also don't want to become those parents that get into fights at ball fields because someone yelled something that we didn't agree with. Try and set the best example for your little ones. 

Pray for them.  Especially you future adopted parents who are waiting.  Smother your kids in prayer and not activities.  They need more of you.  Prayer works.  God is listening so let him know your requests.  I ask him to protect my family every day.  And so should you.

God Bless
Joe