Resolve to be a better parent in 2010

Yes, it sounds a little funny for me to resolve to do that – I’m not exactly a parent yet.

But as things keep progressing along in our foster care process (we had our home study yesterday – WOOT WOOT!) I’m definitely paying closer attention to foster/adoption/parenting issues and ideas.

Lifehack.org has offered up a great list of 10 things children want from their parents.

You see, every Mother’s Day I would ask my students to give me advice on being a mother. They were to think about things their mother or guardian did for or with them that made them feel happy or loved… Year after year, in every country I taught, and in every type of demographic, the students were saying the same things and had the same message: It’s the small things that their mothers did that meant the most and that they remembered.

Here’s the list:

• Come into my bedroom at night, tuck me in and sing me a song. Also tell me stories about when you were little.
• Give me hugs and kisses and sit and talk with me privately.
• Spend quality time just with me, not with my brothers and sisters around.
• Give me nutritious food so I can grow up healthy.
• At dinner talk about what we could do together on the weekend.
• At night talk to me about about anything; love, school, family etc.
• Let me play outside a lot.
• Cuddle under a blanket and watch our favorite TV show together.
• Discipline me. It makes me feel like you care.
• Leave special messages in my desk or lunch bag.

I think my sisters and I would both say that one of the most memorable things our dad did while growing up was rocking us to sleep singing various hymns. And mom was always great at writing us little notes – especially on holidays and birthdays in our lunches or with breakfast. She always had a way of making little holidays special.

So what advice do you have for a “soon to be parent”? What little things do you remember your parents doing that made a big impact on you?