Core Phase young child

Young children challenge us. They don’t know what they don’t know and are constantly testing to find the boundaries. This life is a great adventure, until they hit the wall and then it’s the worst thing that has ever happened to them. No perspective yet. We parents provide some of the boundaries (bedtime) and some of the consequences (hitting Mom is not an acceptable option). From birth to around 8 years old, children grow through Core Phase.

Core Phase is the time for setting up core principles, the center and core of life. We revisit these principles again and again through life, but it starts here. What is your core classic? Do you have a source of core principles? Do you know what principles you want? Are you learning them and trying to live them? My core principles are contained in scripture, but that’s not the only source. It’s your philosophy of life and how to relate to other people. It's usually expressed in a book but could be music or other media or a way of life, such as some martial arts philosophies.

The reason this matters is because your child needs to know that he's important but he's not the most important; he needs to know that he's useful, but not perfect, and he needs to be humble enough to learn. These are all core principles. Core Phase includes learning who you are, who the people around you are, what your relationship to them is, how your body works, and how to take care of it. Right/wrong, good/bad, your equivalent of the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments.

Decide what your core is, learn it yourself while teaching it to him, and live it yourself, as consistently as possible. My core classic includes: forgive yourself and try again. This will help you and your children.