Goal setting isn’t something I personally like to do. I hate to set a goal and not achieve it, so I often just set a direction for a year rather than hard and fast goals. But the other day I read something that challenged me to take another look at goal-setting for my kids and family. I got inspired to believe that goal setting for our children is important.
It’s easy when parenting little kids to just get overwhelmed with the all the laundry, food, and unending diapers and forget that as parents we are responsible for transferring morals, values, and life skills to these precious little people God has entrusted to us. Usually, those skills don’t just happen in our children’s lives. We’ve got to be proactive as parents and choose to set our kids on a path towards those goals.
“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” —Bill Copeland
Many times as a parent, it’s easy to just run up and down the field and never make any real progress. There are so many responsibilities. We have jobs, bills to pay, friends to keep up with, family to see, groceries to buy, houses to clean, the list goes on and on. And in the business of life, we often run up and down the field with no direction for our kids.
About a year ago, I decided that I wasn’t satisfied just doing aimless parenting, but I wanted kids who were honorable, respectful, and loved Jesus in a crazy way. So last year, I began setting goals to push my kids toward those things.
How I Created My Parenting Goals
I set up three types of parenting goals. First, I had academic goals for my kids. I wanted to see my then two-year-old learn his shapes, colors, letters, and numbers. I began researching creative ways to teach my preschool boy and started taking a few minutes each day to focus on his learning. For my baby, I decided I wanted to develop her vocabulary, so I focused on making sure I read to her for 20-30 mins a day.
Secondly, I had spiritual goals for my kids. I want both of my kids to develop a love for Jesus. I didn’t want them to just be kids who knew about God from church, but I want to expose God to them daily, in real relevant ways. Because of this, daily Bible reading and worship became a big part of our schedule.
Finally, I wanted them to excel socially. So I began working on manners and being kind and thinking of others. This led me to buy books for them to read on kindness and talk to my kids often about manners and respect for others.
Read: The Secret I Learned to Help Teach My Kids Responsibility
What Goal Setting Taught Me
Once I began setting goals for my kids, I realized something interesting. In full disclosure…my kids are NOT perfect. A lot of the time, they can be demanding tyrants, but every once in awhile they really surprise me.
Sunday night, we visited family, and my one-year-old couldn’t get behind a chair at the table. I heard her little voice say, “cuze me”. (Excuse me) Time and time again, my kids shock me with their kindness, manners, and love for Jesus.
In the car the other day, my one-year-old said, “mommy wanna talk”. I asked her what she wanted to talk about. She said, “Talk ’bout Jesus”. She wanted me to tell her about Jesus.
I realized that before I began setting goals, I had no expectations for my kids. However, when I began setting goals for my kids I began expecting good things for them. And I’ve been really surprised to see the difference goal setting for my kids has challenged us to be better as a family and better to others.