Teaching children LOA

[oberlee]

Hi there,

I'm wondering if Steve and Erin, or if anyone else, has tried to teach their children the law of attraction? The reason I ask is because I frequently find opportunities to do so, but I understand the emotional capability and lack of control that a child has could make this difficult.

I have a stepson, 11, almost 12, who of course, is encountering a lot of issues, and often he chooses to be unhappy about it. When I say, "well, you can choose to be unhappy or to be happy," he replies, "well, then I guess I'll be unhappy." When I say he has control to change that emotion he says, "but, I'm still bummed about it." I'm worried about his lack of confidence and willingness to delve into self-pity. The thing is, he's extraordinary compassionate, but any criticism he hears he takes to heart, just as any minor setback he internalizes, rather than defy it, deflect it, or fight it.

And I understand, being that age, the difficulty it is to deal with your emotions and to even fathom you have any control over them.

Anyone have any success with this? Or have any suggestions with helping a young, bright, handsome, funny, talented guy to believe in himself?

[Love]

Hi, oberlee.

I've also wondered about teaching success principles to children.
I've not specifically thought about the LoA, so I'll be interested to see what others have to say.

I think the concept of choosing your emotions is a one that a lot of people grapple with, myself included. It might be helpful, though, to have him think of things that will bring him out of a bad mood. Then the choice is not choosing to be happy or sad, per se, but choosing either to continue doing nothing, or maybe, going out and hanging with friends.

[Patricia]

I've been thinking about that a lot myself too and I don't have a good answer yet, but I think the answer lies somewhere in leading by example and in showing practical ways to deal with a situation. Specially with the younger children, who usually mirror parents' behavior. How we react to certain situations is always teaching them how thy "are supposed" to react as well in similar situations. Instead of trying to teach them the theory alone when they are dealing with a negative emotion (which will be hard for them to grasp at this point) I'm thinking maybe we should offer the practical alternatives, supported by our own behavioral patterns - to which they are usually paying close attention to. Like Love said, even us adults can sometimes struggle with choosing our emotional responses, never mind children.

I have 2 little cousins, 3 and 7 y.o. respectively. They were playing in the living room when her parents and I were watching The Secret. Then when we were done watching the movie we talked about the law of attraction and apparently they weren't paying attention, they were just sitting there playing on the floor. However, the next day the 7 y.o. asked me to show her the movie again (even though she doesn't understand English), asked me a few questions and next thing you know she was teaching her "simplified" version of the law of attraction to other people, including other kids. She asked her mother to buy her a board so that she could build a vision board. She started manifesting. However, when it comes to dealing with her own emotions, that's a different story. And reminding her of the theory doesn't help at all. And I also noticed that she usually mirrors her mother's reactions - both positive and negative. So, considering this personal example I have, I think that the basic principles can be explained in theory and they understand them, but teaching them to use them takes leading by example and also showing them practical alternatives to dealing with their emotions.

[Zukin]

Michael Losier's book "The Law of Attraction" has a good section about teaching kids about the law of attraction. Here's a summary that I got from this blog:

"When teaching children the law of attraction, the most important thing is to communicate with them at their level, using words they understand and relate to. ‘Manifestations’, ‘vibrations’ and ’serendipity’ are usually words that children can’t get a firm grasp on. So number one is to keep your words simple. Another tool you can use is to ask questions that get kids to relate to concepts from their own experience. For example, the simple act of using a light switch to turn on and off a light could represent the fact that we either are feeling positive emotion (emitting good vibrations) or negative emotion (emitting bad vibrations). Like a light switch, it’s either one or the other. Simple ideas like these are easy for kids to relate to."

[oberlee]

Cool. Thanks, Love and Patricia. I think you're right. It probably would come more from action and SHOWING rather than telling. Hmmm... You're right, Love, that it's a hard one to deal with, let alone being a child and trying to take control. I guess I thought it might be easier because children so often switch emotions so fast; they're in torment, and five minutes later, they're fine. But he's not so young anymore, he's a young little man.

And Patricia, I think you're right as well--lead by example. I love your story about your 7-year-old cousin.

Yeah, I've learned the best thing with him when he mentions he's upset is actually NOT to talk about it to make it seem better--because then he gets depressed when he wasn't before, but I don't want to NOT talk about what he's bummed about.

As you can see, I'm pretty new to parenting, so I appreciate the input! I would love to teach him some principles, but he's also highly skeptical, as kids are at that age, because he thinks he knows more than he does. Anyway, thank you so much for the input.