“Jacob answered him: My lord knows that children are delicate, and that I have sheep and suckling cows; if they were forced to walk in one day, the whole herd would perish.” Genesis 33 v13:

This is the meeting of Jacob with his brother Esau, and after their reconciliation, Esau asks Jacob to take the road with him to go to Canaan. But Jacob makes him understand that because of the delicacy of children, it is good that they rest first, and then, he will continue the march at their pace.

This verse lets us know that a child does not function in the same way as an adult; this is why we must be very careful. Because children do not have the same interests as us, they do not perceive the world in the same way, they do not have the same level of analysis. Their concerns are different from ours.

A child does not walk at the same pace as an adult, because he is more concerned with his need to make new discoveries about his environment. So, it is up to us to integrate this notion of delicacy into our relationships with him. When he does something stupid, before punishing him, acting brutally, we must first analyze the situation, ask ourselves if it was intentional or not.

Also, I insist on always giving him the reason why he is being punished. There are some children who talk a lot, they ask a lot of questions, they are curious. Instead of telling them “hey, shut up, we’re tired!” Try instead to make them understand gently that what they have to say counts, but there are times when it is good for the house to be quiet; because everyone needs rest.

By doing this, your child will have a hard time hiding anything from you; and if something unpleasant happens to him, he will come and talk to you about it, because he knows that you are always willing to listen to what he has to say. There are also children who touch everything, even though they have toys.

So instead of scolding them (“why did you touch that?”) or hitting them, simply put valuable objects out of their reach, and watch them tinker, because many professions take shape in such moments.

Let your child be a child …

This text is an excerpt from the book “MORE THAN A CHILD” written by GRACE DANIELLE.

We invite you to read the following article “12 WORDS FOR PARENTS TO MEDITATE ON“.