How do you feel about the 5 people closest to your child?

At one point in our lives, we are all susceptible to influences from other people. Kids with ADHD are often more easily influenced by others, which can be very frustrating.

The late Jim Rohn said that each of us is the sum of the five people closest to us.

During the early years of a child's life the foundation is laid for the rest of their lives. During this time, the child's personality is formed and his or her outlook on life is established.

Think about the influences of the five people your child spends the most time with. Parents, siblings, grandparents, teachers and friends are all part of most children's circle of influence. Sometimes, those people don't all contribute positively to the child's personality and behavior.

This is one of the reasons why many parents decide to home educate their children. I remember when my kids   went to pre-school years ago. When we enrolled them, the school was great, however, the management took over and new teachers were introduced. My children's new teacher was unqualified and English was not her first language. Before long, my daughter started speaking in a peculiar accent and she used incorrect grammar and non-English words. She was shocked when we told her those words were not English.

About 6 months later,  my son's arm was broken by other kids while he was sleeping (during nap time). The teachers never bothered to phone us and the broken arm was only discovered when we collected the kids late in the afternoon. At that point, the teachers were very concerned about fixing the problem, which should have been prevented to start with. We took the kids out of the school then and started homeschooling.

It took a long time to get the kids to speak proper English and changing some of the mannerisms they developed that were frowned upon by most family and friends. Let me tell you, these things sneak up on you before you know it.

Think about the characteristics that you would like your child to develop:  trustworthiness, self-reliance, self-respect, a positive outlook on life, resilience, solution mindedness, optimism, etc.

Now think about the characteristics of their friends. Do you really think that whiney little girl doesn't have an influence on your daughter? Just wait until she doesn't get her way. Does the bully teach your son to play rough and not to be a wimp? Observe your son around younger kids.

What about the aunt with the colorful love life? I bet your daughter adores visiting her and looking at all her coquettish clothing - even playing dress up.

I know I am being hard and I know the home schooling critics will have a field day about my "controlling" my kids. The truth is that kids are easily influenced and we should be wary about who they spend a lot of time with. I am not saying they should necessarily be kept away from people who are not the best of influences, but their time with them should be limited.

My kids have friends that are brats (screaming and throwing tantrums when they don't get their way), bullies (even bullying my kids) and raised in a very different way to my kids, in terms of age appropriate behavior, but they are managing themselves well for the most part.

When a certain behavior rears its head, we will quickly determine the cause and then replace that influence with a better role model. After a day or two during which they had limited interaction with the "wrong" influence, we will ask them how they feel about the situation and they will most often say that they prefer spending more time with someone with a better influence.

The reason is that it feels good when a person has a good influence on you - just think about it!

Of course children prefer spending time with someone brings out the best in them!
Thank you for visiting. If you have read this far, you obviously enjoyed the post, so feel free to share it with friends and family, using the options below.  Also have a look at Conflict Resolution Skills 

Preserving Your Brain Function

While this is more aimed at adult ADHDers, the tips will certainly prove helpful when practiced around kids too. Written by Wade.

Most of us want to have better brain functioning and yet so many of us are quick to abuse our brains by smoking or drinking. Whether we believe it or not, these substances certainly have an adverse effect on our minds and IQs.

While many people will relay that they get a rush when they smoke, the reality is that over time, smoking kills brain cells. Studies have revealed that both smoking and alcohol have dire effects on IQs. It was further discovered that long-term smoking certainly reduces brain power in humans. People who combine these two habits to the point of abuse, show that their brain cells deteriorate even more rapidly and that functions such as IQ, memory and the ability to problem-solve, is severely hampered.

Smoking is responsible for the reduction of mental functioning in subjects researched. While tobacco and alcohol are dangerous for mental health there are apparently other substances that we might not always be aware of that affect our cognitive abilities. Some of these include artificial sweeteners and certain food colorants. 

This applies especially in cases where large quantities of these substances are consumed. Children are often the recipients of food colorants and flavorings and parents should therefore try to limit this for their children. Hydrogenated oils, sodas and white bread should be restricted as they contain these substances.

Hydrogenated oils clog the arteries and this leads to heart disease; they also slow the process of oxygen being transported to the brain. Sweeteners cause sugar levels to rise and fall and this can cause fuzziness in the brain and even diabetes. This applies to sugar as well, and therefore both substances should be avoided. 

Thankfully, the damaging effects on the brain can be reversed by stopping these habits. In today's times, with competition being so tough, it is important that we look after our brains and more importantly that we send the right message to our kids so that they have the best possible shot at their lives as adults.

-- 

Thank you for visiting. If you have read this far, you obviously enjoyed the post, so feel free to share it with friends and family, using the options below.