Monday, September 04, 2006 ' 9:28 AM LOVE STONED.....
A BULLET
As the saying goes :
'You may fool some of the people some of the time,
You may fool some of the people all the time,
You may also fool all of the people some of the time,
But you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.'
In parenting, trust is a key element towards building a good relationship with your children. Trust cannot be bought but has to be gained over time. You have to learn to trust your child and at the same time, teach your child to trust you. Mutual trust is the most powerful factor that binds a relationship. Don’t be overly suspicious if your child came home late by an hour once in a while. Instead, showed concern and asked him/her if has any problem, feel free to raise to you. Showed him/her that you genuinely trust him/her not to lie to you. Educate him/her that trust has to be gained. It can takes a long time for one to trust somebody, but it can just take a simple lie to totally destroy the trust that one has built up over time.
It is also important to tell your child that trust is not equivalent to total freedom to do whatever he/she wants. Instead, you trust him/her to do things within certain boundaries or limits. It is a breach of trust if he/she has gone shopping with friends and come back telling you that she has stayed back in school to study. If you have found out the truth, what would you do ? My suggestion is to be calm and tell your child that you felt hurt that he/she has breached the trust you have in him/her and you hope that he/she would not repeat such act again.