What's the best gift a parent can give to their child?

If you are looking for presents to give your child when he/she grows older, you can consider these ideas (these suggestions needs some preparation in advance): - A collection of handwritten letters to them noting down milestones of their lives while they are growing up - Keep and frame up one of their favourite childhood toys/any item of special significance - A collection of tickets/stubs of places you have brought them to, tickets to their performances etc And here are some ideas that are more “immediate”: - A first experience: bring him/her on his/her first flight, amusement ride, concert, to Disney world etc - “open when” letters (here’s a link to print free template: http://www.thedatingdivas.com/holidays/valentines-day/open-when-letters/) - Sign up for a class together

Time. You can earn tons of money and be able to afford anything for your kid but what's the point? The child isn't going to be genuinely happy. I grew up in what some would say a broken family; my parents are divorced. My mum works all day all night to provide for us, and my dad was only allowed to visit us once a week. It's sad because thinking back right now, I really wish that I had them around me more often. My memory childhood is relatively happy - there's my cousins, school, friends, CCAs, my school achievements... but very rarely my parents. Now that I am a parent myself, I make sure no matter how tired I am after work, to be sure to at least sit down and catch up with my daughter about her school and life.

The best gift we can give to our children is LOVE. Shower them with a lot of loves. With love, we will become more patience in handling them, willing to spend more time with them, and teach them good values. For us, we dedicate our Sunday as our family day, to spend family time together and do nothing else. I wish to let my kids know that we treasure them very much and there is a shelter for them whenever they need us and grow up in a healthy family. In terms of value that we wish to impart in our kids, appreciation and respect to each other are very crucial in our family. In terms of preparing them to be a better person, we try our best to teach them resiliency to handle their life and education/work.

If we're talking about big concepts, I would say patience. The patience to actually sit down and listen to your child when he/she has an issue that they can't quite communicate is a true gift. If we're talking presents, then I would say anything that can help them working with their hands. A lot of people might give train sets and building blocks to boys and not girls but I say both should have the chance to learn to build things. I'm really quite thankful that my parents gave me a lot of lego sets to play with, and it's something I would like to pass down to my children too :)

Books! Reading unlocks the imagination and takes you to places you can only imagine going to. When I was a kid, my parents didn't buy me toys (I was upset but oh well) and all I had were books - Enid Blyton, Shakespeare, Tolkien etc. And on Saturday we would go to the library to borrow more books! I could be anybody or anything I wanted when I read books. Besides sharpening my reading, writing skills and furthering my education, being a bookworm, I believe, has contributed alot to my emotional quotient (EQ).

Best gift? For me it would be the gift of understanding. Of letting your child know and feel that you love him and you accept him for all he is and for all he will be. Of course this comes with proper guidance and letting him discern on his own. By being understanding, you are also building his trust towards you. Now if it's something tangible, a warm hug would be the best. It's not just something that he can see but it's something you can make him feel.

Depends on the age of the child. If my kid hasn't hit his/her teens it would definitely be time. If my child is in their teens and older, the greatest gift would be to be culturally relevant. My own dad tries. Even my grandfather. To me, personally, maintaining a connection with your kid as they get older matters even more than money. Plus if it's a boy and they're dead broke, they can just sign on hehe

Perseverance. It is the best gift that a parent can give to their child. They must be taught that everything in life comes with a purpose and a certain degree of difficulty and they must learn to overcome all these obstacles with confidence. I also fame across an article on some of the other things thats parents must do to raise confident children. http://www.theindusparent.com/confident-children

Confidence. How we not only share our love by kisses and gifts, we also listen attentively to them. We create an environment where they feel safe communicating their thoughts, in afraid what they do or say is deemed 'incorrect'. I think this creates the confidence that they can bring later in their life journey.

Dad's in this thread are tuned in! It's mostloy about T I M E" Raising healthy, happy, self confident kids is all about time together. Some of the parenting tools include, plans, rituals, routines and activities which help us use the TIME to connect, play and learn together. Hanson Master Coach & Life Long Learner