The Seven Key Characteristics of Well Balanced Kids

Teaching our kids certain skills and personal habits just isn’t good enough. We need to lead by example and live the skills and traits we teach.

Not only when it is convenient, but all the time.

Here is a list of what I believe to be the seven most important characteristics and skills we need to instill in our children and live ourselves every day.

I think of them as my core values for my family.

The 7 Most Important Characteristics to Teach Our Kids

1) Street Smarts: This includes everything from teaching our kids to look both ways while crossing a street to understanding how to trust their intuition. We want them to know that if they feel uncomfortable with a stranger, or even someone they know, they need to seek help immediately.

2) Respect: The best way to teach respectfulness is to treat your child respectfully. You should give your child the same courtesies you would give to anyone else, regardless if it is in business or pleasure. Children treat others the way their parents treat them. Your relationship with your child is the foundation for their relationships with others.

3) Honesty: There is a direct correlation between honesty and trust. Trust is the foundation of any relationship. We instill this in our kids from birth. We have taught them that although they will make mistakes, as long as they are honest with us, we will be able to reward this.

4) Kindness: When Delanie (my six year old) came home from school the day Molly was struck by the car, the first thing she said was that she wanted to bring Molly a teddy bear because that was her favorite kind of stuffed animal. The quality of kindness is one of the things that I am must proud of my kids for.

5) Determination: This begins by setting a reasonable goal that is within an individual’s limit and that they want intensely. Then they work conscientiously toward the achievement of that goal. We need to teach our kids that goals are important for personal confidence.

6) Dependability: This begins by understanding that others rely on them to do what they say they will do. This mans they must act to be sure every commitment is met on time and in the most complete manner possible. By being a dependable parent and following through on promises and commitments, our kids will learn to do the same.

7) Love: Studies have show that it is not possible to spoil a child with love. What we often think of as the product of spoiling a child is never the result of showing a child too much love. It is usually the consequence of giving a child material things in place of love. The beautiful thing about love is you can never give or accept too much!

Of course there are other personal characteristics and traits that are important; but these seven are foundational.

Once your child has truly mastered them – others follow pretty easily.