As a parent of a 4 year old girl and 2 year old boy, I constantly reflect on how I deal with various situations with my children.  From what they wear, to tantrums, to physically fighting with each other.  “Did I handle that situation correctly? Did they learn from what they did wrong or am I encouraging this type of behavior to continue?  Will what I did and what I said help them become a strong, but yet caring individual?”

We’ve all made our mistakes and regretted how we’ve handled certain situations as parents.  And most of us are always searching for new ideas and tools on how help this little human being grow into someone who is thoughtful and kind. A recent article written in the New York Times by Adam Grant entitled Raising a Moral Child is an excellent read for parents and a great educational source for me as it reinforced a lot of the ways we parent at home, but also gave some new great tips on how to encourage kind, caring and compassionate behavior in our children.

In the article, Grant states only 1/4 to 1/2 of a child’s prosperity of acting in a kind, caring way is inherited leaving a lot of room for nurture to ensure a child will act with these values in mind now and in the future.  Parents, you may think you’ve “ruined” your child for life, but this is far from true.  There’s always time for nurturing change, no matter what the age of your child. For kindness and compassion lies within all of us.