A: Elementary schools are bounding with enthusiasm as most kids and teachers feel a sort of youthful electricity. But what happens as a child ages is they settle into the routine of ordinary.

If your child is allowed to routinely put down their siblings, friends, teachers and schools, deep down they are disrespecting themselves and you. Ultimately, they will distance themselves from you because you settled for ordinary which means their internal light must dim. Eventually they will seek someone else to restore their goodness and their brightness but it could take decades or a lifetime.

Foster your child’s youthful exuberance by asking them to see The Light. Help them to see the goodness in others as equal to their own.

Lead your child into The Light by becoming an attentive listener and then require that they become attentive listeners in return. Require more from them than what is ordinary, for no child feels excited about being ordinary. Excuse-laden parents are ‘lowering the bar’ of their children’s future by allowing their child’s miseries and upsets to guide them vs. their achievements. Don’t let excuses keep your child from feeling their true glory.

When a child has the sense that their parent sees the potential in them, they set the bar inside themselves to reach that level. It is imperative that you lead however, for the parent that fails their child’s expectations as a loving guide has a child who will fail their expectations.

Lastly but just as importantly, participate in your child’s school lessons and activities. Ask them to show you what they learned that day. Have them show you what they like and what they don’t like. By asking them to do this you are learning with them what their interests are – and you can build on that - as well as what they are not interested in, which will become a lesson for you both.

Love & Light,

LYNN SCOTT