Parenthood

Since children imitate most of what their parents do, it is important for you to teach them through action, not just words. The values and morals you want your child to learn will only be passed on if you live them first.

Avoiding the blame game is one way to teach your child about responsibility. Even if you are right, you do not want to teach your children that it is okay to pass the blame onto somebody else.
This happens quite often in children's sports, though it is not the children that are doing the blaming. Parents in the stands frequently fight with each other, the coach or the referee if the game isn't going as well as they would like. Sometimes your child might not get as much playing time as you would like, a ref makes a bad call or another player gets away with a penalty against your child. Yelling, screaming and fighting will not solve the problem; it will only embarrass your children and yourself.

In these cases it is important to remember that no one can take about your child's talent. As long as your children work hard, their abilities will show on the playing field, in spite of a few questionable calls. In the game of life, there is a lot of room for human error.

Blaming others sends the message that you are trying to deflect responsibility. It shouldn't be about winning an argument or proving you were right. It should be about being a good role model for you children. Instead of blaming others, this about what you can do to make the situation better. Instead of blaming the referee, simply say "You played a great game."

Your children will face obstacles in which the will not have the opportunity to blame someone else, even if it is not their fault. For example, if you child spends all night on a homework assignment and then the computer crashes, he or she faces a serious challenge. Teachers do not want to hear "the dog ate my homework." Instead of making up excuses or trying to place blame on the school or computer, your child must come up with a way to get the assignment done.
Think about what would happen if your child has seen you placing blame. He or she will think about following your example and will try to look for a way to blame it on someone or something else. Teaching these bad habits now will not profit your child later when he or she enters the work force. If their boss asks them to do something they can't do, they can blame others all they want, but the boss won't want to hear it. The boss is only concerned about how the problem will be fixed.

You have to teach your children now, through your own behavior, that even when you can't control a situation you can improve it. Things will not always go their way, and you have to teach them how to take responsibility and come up with ways to compensate for unavoidable accidents or the mistakes of others.