Family Issues
T
he family is such an intergral part of life and the place where we learn our first lessons and how to interact with others. Shri Babaji encouraged householders to take care of their duties, to love and care for their children, and to keep up their spiritual practice. Babaji loves children and is often pictured with children in His lap. Shri Muniraji is a wonderful example of a loving family man with eight children and now many grandchildren and great grandchildren, who continually takes care of all his duties as well as his daily spiritual practices.
Life in these busy times often becomes challenging for families. We seem to be almost too busy to stop and enjoy the simple joys of living and being together as family. For this reason, we are including this section about families. The first entries are parenting questions and answers that have appeared in the local newpaper for the last year or so. We will also include other helpful ideas for families, so stay tuned.
If you have a question or a topic that you would like covered, just email us at info@Babajiashram.org.
We are here to serve. Bhole Baba Ki Jai!
Parent Talk by Ramloti - June, 2010 |
I am at my family’s house in San Diego. My son Amil and his wife Sarah have three boys ages five, two-and-a-half and nine months. This is a lot of energy and activity in a small two bedroom condo but fortunately both mom and dad have taken Redirecting Children’s Behavior and the children have always been pretty cooperative. But this time when I arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to find the boys cooperating even more and much less fighting. I think the change is that Sarah is now a teacher of Redirecting Children’s Behavior and she is really living the teachings.
It is really cool to hear the five and the two-and-half-year-old negotiating over toys instead of fighting. When there is some crying, Sarah simply reminds the boys to tell one another what they want to happen rather then what they do not want to happen. It is amazing what happens when the five-year-old tells his very high-energy younger brother that he wants him to ask him for one of his trains rather then just grabbing one from him. She is more often these days putting the decision back to the two of them. For instance, they were going to be allowed to watch one TV show but they were arguing over which one to watch. She simply took the TV clicker, said to the boys to call her when they had worked it out and walked into the other room. She said she could hear the boys negotiating over it and then they came up with a decision. What incredible skills these little boys are learning to take into future life.
I hear a fair amount of, “I will use it for five minutes and then you can use it.” (An egg timer is handy for this.) This morning when I heard the two-and-half-year-old say to his older brother stamping one of his little feet for emphasis, “Gavin, I just need some time to myself.” I nearly fell over! There are also a lot of choices given, helping with little chores, quiet times and plenty of love, snuggles and playing. It is a joy to visit this house.
Last changed: Jun 25 2010 at 6:49 PM
Back