{"id":661,"date":"2017-08-24T19:07:44","date_gmt":"2017-08-24T22:07:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/myway2blog.com\/en\/?p=661"},"modified":"2017-08-24T19:07:44","modified_gmt":"2017-08-24T22:07:44","slug":"unconditional-love-cultural-differences-in-raising-children-in-brazil-and-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/myway2blog.com\/en\/unconditional-love-cultural-differences-in-raising-children-in-brazil-and-in-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"Unconditional love: cultural differences in raising children in Brazil and in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Mine and my husband\u00b4s\u00a0biggest concern when\u00a0we decided to pursue an international career and\u00a0live an \u201cexpat\u201d life,\u00a0was never the job itself: it was always about the wellbeing of\u00a0our children.<\/p>\n

This journey that I have undertaken took\u00a0already 10\u00a0years and spanned\u00a03 different\u00a0countries. I always say that the expression \u201cworking mother\u201d doesn\u2019t reflect reality. What does exist are \u201cmothers that work\u201d. Ambitious and career oriented\u00a0as they may be,\u00a0their children are\u00a0ALWAYS the first priority. Anywhere in the world, no matter what culture.<\/p>\n

So, as a mother who has been living for a long time in Europe (8 years to be exact, which is a great amount of time to my children, Leonardo and Rafael, now 15 and 11 years old), I was able to experience the differences in their school lives, their friends, other parents, in comparison to my home country, Brazil.<\/p>\n

The raising and upbringing of a child is usually a controversial topic of discussion, each parent thinking that their child is the most\u00a0beautiful, intelligent, charming etc\u2026 with unique needs. But let\u00b4s agree there\u2019s no failproof way to raise a child. It would be foolish to ignore that there are positive and negative aspects in any form of education. So, in the name of what\u2019s best for our children shouldn\u2019t we always have a little humility and listen to varied perspectives on the subject with interest? Even though we think \u201cmy kid\u2019s perfect\u201d and \u201cI know what\u2019s best for him\u201d?<\/p>\n

Here are the four things I like the most in the Brazilian style\u00a0in raising children\u00a0(same\u00a0in\u00a0Latin America in general):<\/p>\n

1- the explicit love and caring: children have an overabundance of hugs, kisses, cute nicknames and expression of very\u00a0clear affections in general.\u00a0Not only by their parents, but by\u00a0people\u00a0in general.<\/p>\n

2-The informality when meeting friends or family:\u00a0children are\u00a0always received with an open door and a warm smile, anytime, without much ceremony.<\/p>\n

3-The fact that\u00a0a child\u00a0is\u00a0always welcome no matter the circumstances or where: restaurants, hotels, parks, shops, parties.<\/p>\n

4- Children\u00b4s happiness always comes first. We don\u2019t leave them\u00a0crying for a long time, we are always there to help and protect, making sure their self-esteem and confidence\u00a0grows and stays up (whoops\u2026 it requires a lot of attention to this point so that we don\u2019t end up raising spoiled little\u00a0monsters)<\/p>\n

What I love \u00a0about the European way:<\/p>\n

1- Children remain children throughout all their childhood.\u00a0let me explain:\u00a0\u00a0in Europe children don\u2019t try to mature too quickly and don\u00b4t attempt to mimic adults. Girls below 12 normally don\u2019t wear lipstick, don\u2019t paint their fingernails. Children are not into shopping\u00a0and don\u00b4t have i-phones or facebook accounts. During this period,\u00a0they play outside and\u00a0have fun with ordinary toys and friends.<\/p>\n

2 – Children are \u00a0teached discipline and independence very early on: in Europe parents don\u2019t do everything for their children, like tying shoelaces, cutting their food, organizing their school uniform and their things in general. Organizing their clothes, making their bed and taking\u00a0the plate to the sink after they\u2019ve excused themselves from the table are things that are\u00a0taught at a very early age (such as 5-6).<\/p>\n

3- Children are expected to be\u00a0respectful, and they know when\u00a0their play time has to come to an end, for example, when us (the adults) want to relax, when eating at a restaurant or when the parents are having friends or colleagues over to\u00a0the house. They don\u2019t bother you or annoy you all the time and\u00a0learn there are limits to any parent\u00b4s patience.<\/p>\n

4- Expressions such as “please”, “excuse me”, “thank you”, “good morning\/evening”,\u00a0are fundamental basics to be used\u00a0without having to be reminded.<\/p>\n

My learning is that balance is really the secret. At\u00a0the end we try to do what we think is\u00a0best for\u00a0our children, and that\u00b4s what we should all strive for. To give\u00a0them the largest amount of happiness possible in these short precious years of before adulthood and the immense burden of responsibility that comes along.<\/p>\n

Yes, I try to make\u00a0my boys\u00a0happy,\u00a0but also try to prepare them to do their part in making this world a better place. I believe that\u00b4s only possible\u00a0through values, transparency, discipline and “unconditional love”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mine and my husband\u00b4s\u00a0biggest concern when\u00a0we decided to pursue an international career and\u00a0live an \u201cexpat\u201d life,\u00a0was never the job itself: it was always about the wellbeing of\u00a0our children. This journey that I have undertaken took\u00a0already 10\u00a0years and spanned\u00a03 different\u00a0countries. I always say that the expression \u201cworking mother\u201d doesn\u2019t reflect reality. What does exist are \u201cmothers<\/p>\n

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