It’s a beautiful spring afternoon. You’d love to enjoy the day. But you’ve made a promise to visit Aunt Jen in the nursing home.

You may not know it, but you’re a teacher at this moment. The choice you make will teach your child more about what it means to be kind to others than 100 lectures.

Each day, your children watch as you make choices. If your words match your actions, you have taught a powerful lesson.

Think about the other times during a day when you are teaching moral values. You spy a parking place, but can see that another car has waited for it. Still, you could probably get there first. What do you do?

You hear about a family who has lost everything in a fire. What do you do? What do you ask your family to do?

You promise your children you will come to their baseball game. When the time comes, you have some extra work to do at the office. What choice do you make?

Each of these everyday choices teaches your child something about your values. You can’t always control what your children see and do outside your home. But you can control what goes on inside.

When you must make a choice, ask yourself, “How would I like my child to behave in this case?” Then act in the way you hope your child would behave.

Copyright © Parent Institute