Scattering Flowers

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay\u27s first paragraph. One of the most important missions we have as parents is to instill in our children those values that we view as critical to living a successful life. Although the early parent-child years are filled with countless, explicit small lessons and recommendations, it is our unspoken values that teach the most during that time. Children are very keen observers and can see through (and often make their best attempt to ignore) our verbal recommendations, especially if they do not align with our non-verbal actions. For example, teaching children to be good to their siblings is often done through many stern and/or impassioned pleas, negotiations, compromises, time-outs and forced reconciliations. If, however, they witness unkind actions between mother and father, uncharitable adult siblings\u27 interactions and continual criticism of friends and co-workers, they will learn the unspoken lesson of “but these rules don\u27t always apply or won\u27t hold true forever”. Similarly, when teaching children about finishing a job well and not giving up on difficult tasks, they must witness this behavior in their home environment and have it become a part of the fabric of their being so that when they go off to college and/ or out into the working world, this is the way they attack problems