About five years ago my wife and I were expecting our first child. I’ve read many parenting books, asked people for advice and prayed to God asking for a lot of wisdom. Months went by, my head was getting full of information, ideas and principles to raise the best kids in the world.. or so I thought!

Fast forward five years: we have three children, a little more experience and a lot more understanding that [clickandtweet handle=”” hashtag=”” related=”” layout=”” position=””]parenting is a journey and not a checklist[/clickandtweet]. Over the years I had a privilege of getting a glimpse of parenting styles, types, principles and routines in families around the world! Some focus on the heart-to-heart connection with kids while others teach obedience and order, some shower children with love and gifts while others give kids the opportunity to grow and discover the world for themselves. Every child is different, cultural and religious aspects are important too, but there is one question, every parent should always keep in mind:

What is best for their future and not just their present?

It’s that simple. No complicated formulas, no step-by-step guide based on research, no 7 hours seminar.. simple question, “what is better for my children’s future in this situation?” Let’s just say I want to buy every toy in a toy section of every store for my kids. I could even come up with some reasonable excuses to do it: “It will help with physical development,” “That toy will encourage critical thinking,” etc. But in the long run, we know that it would do more harm then the blessing and would just spoil them and destroy any understanding of a value of those things. [clickandtweet handle=”” hashtag=”” related=”” layout=”” position=””]Don’t educate your children to be rich. Teach them to be happy, so they know the value of things, not the price.[/clickandtweet]

daily-parenting-traveling-with-kids-valishvili-23You get an opportunity to practice it every single day. It’s much easier to allow to eat sweets instead of the real meal, video games instead of homework or buy a new toy just to avoid the tantrums in a public place. But if you ask yourself at that moment, “what is better in the long run?” it puts things into the right perspective and makes the struggle worth going through.

“No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening-it’s painful! But afterward, there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.” Hebrews 12:11

While discipline does not make most people happy, those who achieved anything know how important it is in the formula of success. Any athlete would tell you how often they had to say no to something pleasant at the moment, to reach the desirable destination later. While our kids are small, it’s our responsibility to teach them to think about the future, but what is more important for us, is always to keep that in mind as well! We, as parents, often need that discipline more often than kids. As Dale Partridge likes to say is, “discipline is doing what you don’t like to get something you love.”

Would love to hear your thoughts on that! Let me know what you think either via email dailyparentingco@gmail.com or in the comments below .