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Sonja Brownlee, MD.
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Last Updated 1/2010

The information contained on this web site is not a substitute for direct examination and treatment by a physician. If any of this material is unclear or confusing, or if you have additional questions or concerns, please call the office at 778-6762. 

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Guidelines for Parents

1. Remember that a child is a gift from God, the richest of all blessings. Do not attempt to mold him or her in the image of yourself, your father, your mother, your brother, or your neighbor. Each child is an individual and should be permitted to be him or herself.
2. Remember that anger and hostility are natural emotions. Help your child find socially acceptable outlets for these feelings or they may be turned inward and create physical or emotional problems.
3. Discipline your child with firmness and reason and consistency. Don't let your anger throw you off balance. If s/he knows you are fair, you will not lose his or her respect or love. Make sure the punishment fits "the crime". Even the youngest child has a keen sense of justice.
4. Present a united front. Never join with your child against your husband or your wife. This creates emotional conflicts and generates destructive feelings of guilt, confusion and insecurity.
5. Do not give your child everything his or her little heart desires. Permit him or her to know the thrill that comes from earning something. Do not deny him or her the greatest pleasure of all: the satisfaction that comes with achievement.
6. Do not set yourself up as a model of perfection. This is a difficult role to play 24 hours a day. You will find it easier to communicate with your child if she or he knows that Mom and Dad can make mistakes too.
7. Don't crush a child's spirit when s/he fails. And never compare him or her with others who have done better.
8. Don't make threats in anger or glowing promises when you are in a generous mood. Threaten or promise only what you can deliver. To a child, a parent's word means everything. If s/he loses faith in his or her parents, s/he will have difficulty believing in anything.
9. Do not smother your child with gifts and lavish surprises. The purest and the healthiest love expresses itself in day-in and day-out discipline. Consistency builds self-confidence, trust, and a strong base for character development.
10. Teach your child that there is dignity in hard work, whether it is performed with a shovel or with delicate surgical instruments. Let him or her know that a useful life is a rewarding one and that a life of ease and pleasure-seeking is empty and meaningless.
11. Do not try to protect your child against every blow and disappointment. Allow him or her to get a few lumps; adversity strengthens character and makes us compassionate. Trouble is the great equalizer, the common denominator of living. S/he is bound to have some trouble in life. Let him or her learn how to handle it.
12. Teach your child to love God and to love others. Don't SEND your child to a place of worship - TAKE him or her there. Children learn from example. Faith in God can be his or her strength and light when all else fails.