Our children, our selves

We are our children's role models. Children naturally look up to their parents, Hashem put it into their makeup. Therefore a great portion of parenting entails that we parents work on ourselves. Therefore a lot of education of our children depends on our self-education as parents. Not in an academic sense alone but in a moral sense. We have to model in the best possible way what we want our children to become. It behooves us to listen to our own admonishments to our kids. Don't fight with your brother! Stop being jealous! If you would be nicer to him than he'll be nicer to you. Speak nicely !!! This is not a competition!!! How do we ask properly? And so on and on and on. So many things we say a hundred times a day are a lesson to us as well. Every one of the above statements could be applied on a national level as well. So much of parenting is really a midos (character) workshop for us, parents. Perhaps one reason why often our children are both similiar to and different from ourselves is so we could work on different facets of our own personalities. Rabbi Jonathan Rietti in his excellent lectures speaks among other things about raising ourselves not just our children. Shavua Tov U'Mevorach - a good and blessed week to all!!!