Notice to Children About Care

If you asked me: What is the best way to influence our children in this time when negative influences abound, I would tell you: Make them aware of your care. To make your son and daughter feel that you care about them, want the best for them in their religion, health, and psychology, and are willing to sacrifice for that... We are not on par with the temptations that vie for our children's attention and steal their gaze, but our sincere expression of care for them makes them turn to our embrace from the claws of these temptations. You are not a successful father if you do not have this care for your daughter, and then when you see her approaching puberty, you ask her to wear the hijab so that she is not a source of evil for you alone! She will say to herself: (This is your problem, don't expect me to change my lifestyle for you)! You will not succeed much in trying to convince her that you want this for her own good... she will say to herself: (When did you ever care about me?) Yes, you may provide your children with the best food, clothing, housing, and treatment, even luxuries like the iPhone and tablet... etc., and spend thousands on their education... but you are not ready to listen to their concerns and ambitions with a present mind, nor do you strive to notice their psychological and social problems and solve them, nor to develop their skills and make them look at themselves positively, but you are preoccupied with your own harm (the mobile phone) while they are talking to you, or with trying to achieve your lost self, even with imaginary achievements on social media (the stock of posts, likes, and comments)! Even while teaching your sister to your son, you might say: (Study, what will so-and-so and so-and-so say if she fails)! So you confirm to your son that he is part of your personality's decor, not that you care about him for himself! If you do not give your daughter attention, she will find it with a frivolous young man, and if you do not give your son attention, he will seek it with lost peers like him! Your son may complain about something that happened at school, so you go to the school yourself even though you can solve the problem with a call, but you deliberately show concern for his feelings... And your daughter may ask for something for her party, so you go late at night even though you are tired, to show her that you care... This is not a waste of time, but do it for the sake of Allah the Almighty. I realize the importance of this matter when my son Al-Farooq says to me: Dad, the boys do this and that, why don't you let me do the same? I tell him: Dad, it is easy for me to allow you these things, rest my head, and devote myself to my work, but I know they are not suitable for your personality, mind, and religion, and you are important to me, and I want the best for you, so I bear the burden of your insistence for your sake, and he falls silent, even though he is a stubborn child. And I realize the importance of this matter when my daughter Sarah asks for something, and I fulfill it for her even though it may seem like a waste of my time, and then she comes close to me and kisses my cheek in gratitude... Dear ones, show your children that you care.