In fact, one of the most amazing things about life lessons is that they’re everywhere, and they come from unexpected sources. We’ve already spoken about life lessons all parents should teach their kids, but now we want to look at reversing the roles and how parents can actually learn some fairly valuable life lessons from their little ones.

Always be ambitious

If you ask a child what they want to be when they’re older, they rarely respond with something mundane or ‘I’ll just see how things go.’ They want to be doctors, astronauts, sports stars, singers, firefighters or even President. They look at a big bike and decide they want to learn to ride it, even though they don’t have the faintest idea how to start. They’ll announce that they’re going to climb to the very top of that tree, even if they can’t reach the lowest branches. And while they might not actually climb that tree or become the first person to walk on Jupiter, you’ve got to admire the ambition and the fact that they haven’t yet let their own self-doubt hold them back. We could all do with a bit more of that in our lives!

Live in the now

As responsible adults and parents, there’s no denying that it’s important to plan for the future. Sometimes though, we need to live for the moment and appreciate what you have right now, instead of always looking to the future. So, plan for your life, your retirement and your kids’ future – but appreciate the little things, do something spontaneous like a weekend away, and don’t get so bogged down in the future that you forget to enjoy the present.

There’s always time to play

Why are children so happy? Because they allow themselves to indulge in the thing they love most, to play, have fun and grow their imagination and confidence. As adults it’s easy to get swamped with work and responsibilities, but making “playtime” a priority is important if you want to improve your quality of life and happiness.

Say you’re sorry

Children fight often, we all know that. Someone takes a doll or says something mean, and next thing you know they’re both crying and won’t be friends anymore. Luckily, it normally only takes ‘I’m sorry’ for a child to move on. Five minutes later, the fighting children are best buddies again. Adults are much slower to apologise, and much slower to forgive too. Your kids can teach you that arguments don’t have to last long and that most of the time you lose nothing by apologising or forgiving.

Be your own person

When they’re young, kids don’t worry about what other people think about their likes and dislikes, and they don’t filter out parts of their personality to please others. While that might be the source of your frustration when they’re throwing a tantrum in a shopping mall, it’s also part of what makes kids so wonderful and joyous. They don’t mind wearing crazy clothes, showing their pets that they love them with reckless abandon, hugging their favourite teddy bear in front of people or offering an opinion that differs to their friends or parents. Learning to embrace the traits that make you unique as an adult can make all the difference to how you feel on a day to day basis.