I was looking at the motivation site and something occured to me when I read one of the posts. Not only do our kids learn from our good examples, but they learn from our mistakes as well. I am very open with my son about the mistakes I've made in my personal life and as a parent. As an only child, he knows that any mistakes I make are going to be just with him and that I don't have the "benefit" of having learned them with older brothers and sisters. He has come to understand how you can learn from mistakes and that taking responsibility for them is really important.

It is really good to instill in the minds of our children that whatever consequences arise from their mistakes, they must bear it. I, for one, don't tolerate my children's irresponsibility at times. Even if I keep on reminding of some things for school, they still seem to forget and sometimes, I think that being disciplined by forces outside of home is also effective.

Feline - I definately agree that outside forces work really well also. There's nothing like a kid taking on a responsiblity in a group or school setting and having your child come through and receive the praise of others. It's a real self confidence booster and if by chance they don't come through, then they find that others (beside their parents) have expectations of them as well.