Children Grow Like Trees When Nurtured
Being a nurturing mother has been one of my biggest goals in life. For a child to become a successful adult, it takes a lot of discipline but even more nurturing and love. Children are like a tree. The more they are nurtured, the stronger they grow. This Moon in the Peridot Tree of Life Pendant is so dear to me, because it stands for and represents some of the huge milestones of my own life, full of trials and tribulations and challenges.
I am a mother of three adopted children. We adopted my two oldest children at birth but our youngest, we were her foster parents for two years prior to us adopting her. When foster children, her included, come to us they are typically very broken emotionally and confused.
My daughter is no exception! When she first came to us, she was an absolute handful. She was 19 months old and had been shown no love, had not been nurtured by her mother, had been expected to be very independent to survive and had not had any boundaries or rules set. Even at 19-months-old, she could get completely dressed all on her own (including socks and shoes). For a few months, the tantrums were literally almost non-stop until she would fall asleep from exhaustion. She was the most unhappy child I had ever dealt with before.
It took a TON of love and patience but guess what?! Once she began to have a consistent nurturer in her life, she has grown into a beautiful, HAPPY, pleasant little girl!
I love this necklace from Lexi Butler Designs. It is a reminder to me of my little girl’s life. A little girl who has hope, has a contagious smile and has grown big and strong. I wish you ALL could have seen the transformation we have been blessed to witness! She has helped me understand how much LOVE can do! Shop for Lexi’s unique jewelry pieces HERE.
It is then divided into ten individual branches which each hold several different size Peridot glass chips and one 3-mm hand-rolled fragrant rose petal bead.
Here are a few ways that we have found to have been helpful to truly nurture her the way she so desperately needed!
Be Consistent With Rules and Boundaries
Consistency is key! Having a set of rules and boundaries gives children an incredible sense of security. Even if they fight the rules, deep down in, they need them to know they are loved.
Let Them Act Their Age
Children are exactly that… children. They should not have to act like an adult. Make sure you are not disciplining for them acting their age. Focus on correcting the bad behaviors that will matter long term… not all the small stuff.
Respect Their Feelings
Give your child the chance to express their own feelings in an appropriate manner or else you will get inappropriate reactions from bottled up emotions. Let them know they will not be in trouble for being open and honest with you on how they are feeling.
Have Patience
Oh, this one is SO hard for me. Allow your child to do stuff on their own. Independence can give your child a lot of self-confidence but it sure isn’t fun waiting an extra 10 minutes for your child to tie their own shoes or buckle their own car seat. By being patient, you are allowing your child to know they are worth your time!
Do Not Expect Perfection
NO child is perfect. NO adult is perfect! So do NOT expect for them to be or you will constantly be disappointed.
Give Your Child Steady Affection
Even when my daughter thought she didn’t want to be held and rocked, she desperately needed it. Eventually, she stopped fighting the “love” and craved it! Making sure she gets a lot of hugs and kisses each day is very important!
This Tree of Life pendant is a reminder to me that love always “gets through” like these strong roots are getting all the nourishment to the branches and the leaves. And with daily food like that, the tree keeps giving. I absolutely adore this pendant and the symbolism it carries within this unique design of the peridot stones.
Spend Quality Time
Maybe the most important, do NOT let the TV raise your child. SPEND TIME with them. Play games, sit and talk, play outside, sit on their floor and play with their toys together, read to them, etc.
To me, this gorgeous necklace is a great daily reminder to strive to be the mother I want to be and my children so desperately NEED!
21 thoughts on “HOW-TO Nurture Children To Grow Into Successful Adults”
I wholeheartedly believe in every point you made. We try to parent from the heart. We have five kids and definitely want to know where their minds and hearts are. ?
I absolutely love this necklace! It is such a sweet way to include your daughter and her story in a piece of jewelry. I love it!
I love this advice, so often we ask out kids to act like adults
Dear Readers,
I love the story behind my Lexi Butler Designs Product feature of the “Moon In the Peridot Tree Necklace”. I admire her for the courage to open her home to this precious little girl, to take her in and to open her heart to the kind of nurturing love only a mother can give. It takes a special kind of person, with an extra big heart, to be able to do that, foster and adopt a child. Children are like growing trees, which need to be nurtured and well taken care of so they do grow strong whether we gave birth to them or not.. I have two children of my own a boy who is almost 22 living away from home and a girl almost 19 years old, which is almost ready to spread her wings and leave the nest with my little grand daughter of 15 month.
By the way I have this “Moon In the Peridot Tree Necklace” available for sale on my website. If you are interested in me making you a necklace please go to http://bit.ly/2otTQMc Please Use Coupon Code TREEOFLIFE30 and get 30% OFF Coupon expires 4/30/2017
Lexi Butler
I am so glad you adopted her! I was in the foster care system. I was that broken child. Unfortunately I was sent back to be with my mother. I ran away for good at 16 and never looked back. Thankfully though, through the love of God I learned how to put good influences in my life and have a wonderful life today with a husband and two beautiful boys. I even have a college degree in journalism. Not a lot of runaways or children who stay in the foster care system get the chance. You have change that girl’s life!!! I’m saying thank you for stepping up!!
Patience is definitely a trait of mine that I have to strengthen and improve. I agree with your entire list – nurturing children the right way so that they can grow up to be strong, successful, caring adults!
When I was a kid, my mom always wanted me to be at the top of the class rankings. I would be so scared if I had to go home and just be 2nd or 3rd in rank. However, I think she saw how stressed I was and she let me be me. The new found freedom however did not make me ditch the books. I still did my best in school. I raised my kids differently. I acknowledged that each one of them had their own personality and strengths. We worked around that and raised them to be happy, healthy, well rounded kids.
I love the tip let them act their age. I hear people tell toddlers and even children that they need to grow up, but you cant apply the same rules to children as adults because they are still growing. Teach them as they grow because they do not know better and it is not COMMON SENSE for kids to do many things.
Great ideas. It’s so important for us to teach our kids valuable lessons and just do our best!
What a great story, it sounds like you worked hard to provide such a nurturing environment. How wonderful! And I love your necklace!
There is nothing better than being a parent! I am just in love with that necklace – so pretty!
As a parent, it’s so important to teach our kids important lessons over the years. Thanks for this reminder on the value of proper parenting.
Great post and a good read. Hope I do my best in turning my 10 month old daughter into a success. I want the best for her..
That tree of life necklace is so cute. Children definitely grow like trees when they are loved and nurtured.
I have friends who foster and my cousin has adopted 2 children. It definitely is rough but worth it! Children everywhere should be shown love and affection from day one! Thanks for the post!
How lucky is your daughter to have you in her life. It takes an immense amount of love, patience, and nurturing to grow a successful adult. One that is confident in their own identity and knows they have a support system to help them along the way.
All I can do is my best and hope that my kids rule the world someday. My hope is that they grow into successful adults and do lots of good with their lives.
Raising children is one of the hardest jobs ever.My greatest struggle is patience, I don’t have any. My son is a few months out from being a full on teenager and it sucks so bad. I’m looking forward to putting this stage behind us.
I give my hats off to you for fostering. It is such a wonderful thing for a child that has not known love before. I’m so glad that you stuck with her. You have some wonderful tips here and I definitely follow them with my own child.
These are great tips on nurturing a child into adulthood. All we can hope for is to turn them out to be successful in their lives and live to make their hopes and dreams a reality :). And I love that necklace!
Every child is different and you can’t put them in a box and treat them all the same. All your ideas are wonderful.