I have the most awesome kids in the world! The back of my suburban Mom car is covered with honor roll stickers.
On someone else’s car this week I saw a sticker that said, “Your kid may be a star student but you drive like an idiot”. That really made me laugh.
Then I read the essay by Glennon Melton below and it got me thinking.
What am I bragging about my kids for? What is that teaching them about what’s important in life? Do they feel that their “success” is necessary for my love? Am I only proud of them when they make straight A’s? (Of course not, but do I communicate that?) How can I value their CHARACTER more than their success? How can I help them develop (and value) things like perseverance, empathy, compassion, and kindness? How can I weed out pride and the pervasive trait of self-absorption while still encouraging them to do their very best?
Parents, read this – it’ll make you think.
http://momastery.com/blog/2012/04/23/bragging-rights/
How do we teach them that character is MUCH more important than their “success”?
Mindy Clemons 
Good post. The discussion on it is fascinating. Personally, I want my children to know unconditional love, to choose quality character traits as a focus of success, but also recognize their accomplishments…especially if took diligence and perseverance to achieve.
I thought this was a great post, Mindy. It really gave me a lot to think about. As much as I would like to say I focus on character, do I really? I hope that I would, but feel myself tense up when I see a not so stellar grade. Thank you for letting God use you to speak to me…fondly, Rachel
I liked the post and comments. Not a straightforward and easy answer type of topic. good food for thought – thanks!
super awesome post. made me think of a book i started to read awhile ago, raising an unselfish child in selfish world…read it for MOPS a few years ago!!
Excellent! And so is the blog you referred to. All of parenting is by grace — God’s grace. The years pass quickly, make the most of every day. ~ a grandma