All the little children

Yesterday I started thinking about children and I pretty much mentally planned how I’m going to raise my own future kids. I couldn’t even sleep for a while just thinking about it all. Of course, I know raising children is going to be a lot more difficult than I like to think and I know that I’m not going to be the ~awesomely perfect~ mom I hope to be. I know half of the stuff I’m planning probably isn’t even going to happen.

But here ya go, an ever-growing list of the things I have in mind for the future little boys and girls that I hope to raise:

• No television in our home. We might have a TV in some corner of an attic or our garage for when we want to watch quality movies or home-videos.
• Limited amount of toys. I want my kids to cultivate a big imagination, enough to create their own toys and means of entertainment. If we have toys, they will be simple toys that require lots of critical-thinking.
• I will be strict enough with them that they will grow up learning self-discipline skills so that when they reach18 they'll be well-organized and fully competent adults ready to succeed in the world. Unlike a certain someone I know (cough, me).
• They’re going to do all their own chores and clean up all their own messes. We might even have a “chores calender” so that each of them will know what they have to do everyday. Part of learning organizational skills and self-discipline.
• My children will read books. Lots of them. Beside holy scripture and religious material, I will encourage my kids to read all types of books appropriate to their ages.
• My children will pick a musical instrument of their choice to learn from an early age. If there’s one thing that I regret (for the lack of a better word) about my childhood is never having pressed my parents to let me learn to play an instrument. Of course, money was a problem for us at the time, but I still could’ve learned another way. My kids will learn to play an instrument of their choice whether they want to or not. Again, discipline. Once they’re of age they can choose to quit if they truly don’t like it.
• Similarly and for the same reasons as the last bullet point, I will enroll my children in a sport of their choice.
• My children will naturally be involved in church activities and the like, and I will raise them with the principles of my religion (LDS), but will always encourage them to do critical-thinking and “soul-searching” of their own. Really the best thing I can do is be a great example for them to follow.
• Instead demanding respect, patience, or anything like that from them because I’m their parent, I will show respect, patience, etc., to them as their parent. Another example of leading by example, I guess. 

I will (hopefully) be adding to this list as I think of things since there are definitely a lot of aspects of parenting that I have yet to consider, but this is will be it for now. c:

And here's the only picture that I have to prove that I actually like children, as opposed to what most people seem to think:

My little cousin "Joshi" and I. It was taken in 2008 or 2009, uh, I can't really remember. 

And I promise I didn't pinch her so she would smile! (ehem)

xx