Mother-Daughter Day is an important school tradition where moms and daughters of each batch spend a special day together. It usually starts off with an icebreaker for moms, then an enriching talk that can guide them in their important role as parents. Separately, the girls have their own activity relevant to their needs and stages of development. Afterwards, mothers and daughters come together for a fun workshop, some games, and a program prepared by the students, while enjoying good food and great company.
The talk for moms in this year’s Grade Two Mother-Daughter Day was given by Gina Garcia (mother of 3 Woodrose alumnae). Her talk, entitled Consistent Tough Love with a Heart, focused on the basic principle of knowing who and what their Grade Two daughters are capable of doing, with emphasis on the need for mothers to firmly demand good work and manners from their daughters.
She reminded mothers that they were given the authority to discipline their children. Here are some important points that we could all learn from:
- CONSISTENT:
- TOUGH LOVE:
- With a HEART:
Consistently set and enforce firm limits and boundaries
Allow them to live through challenging experiences. This is how one develops good character.
Teach independence without them feeling abandoned. Get the balance right.
Tough love is NOT deliberately embarrassing a child by screaming at her, striking her, or meting out harsh rules and punishments
Love is wanting what is BEST for the other
Seeking to be our child’s BFF can only lead to permissiveness and choices made out of desperation because we fear losing their approval. That’s not love on our end; that’s need.
Correct with love and avoid put-downs and power struggles which can humiliate and damage self-respect
Keep age-appropriate expectations. “Don’t set them up to fail by asking too much of them.”
Gina’s message was clear…what it means to be consistent, to be TOUGH (but definitely not in a demeaning way), to LOVE as only a mother can, with a HEART that is nurturing and full of gentleness.
Supplementary reading: 10 Common Mistakes Parents Today Make (Me Included) by Kari Kubiszyn Kampakis