#1 Teach Your Kids To Be Kind

Harmony Hobbs recently wrote about her mission to teach her children to be kind instead of focusing on perfection for Scary Mommy.

I have to admit, when I really think about what I'm teaching my kids I feel like a true “scary mommy,” because I'm not certain they're really getting the message about being kind.

As Harmony writes,

The world doesn't need three more assholes. The world needs three more kind people.

I hope my children can be those three kind people.

Isn't that what we all hope for our kids? I really hope my kids will be the kind of people Harmony's talking about. She and her husband have made it their mission to instill this sense of kindness in their kids. Here's what she has to say about it:

We have made it our practice to set the bar of achievement at a reasonable level. We encourage our children to do their best and we are proud when they succeed, but more than that, it is important to us that we raise them to be kind.

I don't just want my kids to be kind to people who look and act like they do. I want them to be kind to everyone. Yes, black people. Yes, brown people. Yes, yellow people. Yes, gay people. Yes, strange people — and don't call them strange, because we're strange too.

Yes, homeless people. Yes, punk rock people. Yes, baby people. Yes, old church people.

Yes, even your own brother and sister.

PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE. BE KIND TO THEM. This is our family motto.

It's a great family motto. I'm totally on board with the theory. But in practice? How do I make sure what I'm really teaching my kids is to be truly kind day in and day out? Let's face it: the days are long and I'm not on my A game 1/2 the time anyway.

The thing about parenting is that you never really know if what you're doing is working. You just do the best you can, and as days stretch into weeks you keep trudging along until something happens that lets you know that you have either failed miserably or done something right.

Big sigh of relief.

No stressing about whether or not I'm getting each and every day right with this parenting thing (because I'm totally not!).  Are you teaching your kids to be kind? Share your tips in the comment section. Then check out the rest of Harmony's article about raising kids to be kind at Scary Mommy.