Ask HN: What do you wish you had taught/done for your children at an early age?

I have 2 kids of my own and grew up in a family with 8 kids. The #1 thing I really appreciated when I reached adulthood was how relentless my parents were with all 8 of us when it came to working hard for what we wanted and treating people around us with respect. They didn't just preach it, they lived it so we learned by watching them. I may be a little biased but all of us turned into really good people and we all make pretty decent livings.

I carried that on with my 2 kids and so far am pretty happy on the people they are becoming ;)

The other thing I do with my kids is get really involved with whatever they are interested in at any given time. I look for learning opportunities in those interests and leverage those wherever I can to teach them new skills in a way where they don't realize they are being taught.

Mostly, enjoy the ride! It is an amazing ride that goes by so fast!

Here are a few that will help you and your new baby:

1) Family is the most important community you will ever have. Learn to make it work. Offen, it will seem like it's futile but you need to do your best to keep it functioning.

2)Learn a skill/hobby you can use to scape the harshest part of life. Playing an instrument is a great scape. Don't make it part of your work.

3)Learn to make and keep lifelong friends. Have friends and be a good friend. Life is much easier when you can count on a friend and they can count on you. Friendship is about giving of yourself.

4)A scientific view of the world is only a partial view. Religion can be an additional view. Religion is more than believing in myths. It's a way to transfer knowledge thru time. Learn to identify the best parts of both and reject the bad and make it part of your life.

5) Success starts early, identify and implement habits that will help you from the start. Such as keeping a clean home and body, daily exercise, setting aside time to study and learn, planning your future and on and on

6)Everything in moderation, the problems in life often arise because of excesses, too much food, too much sex, too much alcohol, too much gaming, too much of anything.

7)Set aside time for the 2 of you to bond. Pick a fun activity you can do together regularly. As an adult, he/she will find peace while doing the same activities. Yet, they won't exactly know why but the reality is that it's a way to re-live the past good times.

8) Every action has consequences so understand that some have fatal and/or lifelong consequences, make sure he/she understands that.

9)Help by finding role models that will help thru life. The teen years are especially hard, reading books that help by showing what it's like to be a growing teen and how to cope.

10) Set aside an evening a week for the family. It can be a fun, learning, teaching or listening evening. It's a great time to bond with your family and learn from the family.

11) Life is what you make of it not necessarily a bunch of random events.

12)Work is important. Don't wait until they are adults to make them understand that we all need to work to have a good life. The worst is to have a 22 yrs old that does not have a work ethic. They will struggle all their life. Always looking to mom and dad for help.

There are plenty more but in the same way that you learned a skill, take the time to learn to be a great father.

However, languages are definitely a big thing in our household. I have three passports, my daughter has two of them, my wife has another, our daughter was born in a fifth country, and we travel relatively often and extensively.

Tip 1: Encourage kids to thank and greet people to begin to interact in another language, even if you can't speak enough to be truly conversational.

Tip 2: Show the same episodes of the same major cartoons in three or four languages so your kid gets the sense of multiple languages without the need for constant environmental stimulation.

Definitely useful