All parents want to raise happy children. They want their kids to be mirthful, confident, and successful at everything they do. While I believe that failure and obstacles are very strong and powerful stepping stones to success, we definitely don’t want our kids to be gloomy. Happy Children are a delight to be around and they instantly light up the house and also help you be calmer and sane.
As parents, we get accustomed to finding faults in a child rather than assessing their behavior or the situation. When we want to raise happy children, we need to make sure our groundwork is right and we begin at the grassroots level. Every child has a way of expressing his or her emotions and throwing tantrums does not mean your child is not a happy one. Happiness indeed tops the long list of things we want to cultivate in our kids. Honestly getting our children to be happy and confident requires us to be the same too.
Read here how to improve the emotional health of our little men
While my previous posts were all about handling boys, this post is all for both genders. Here’s a little list of the dos and Don’ts that may help in raising happy children.
Do give them undivided attention
You are the world to your kids until they go build their own world. Hence, despite everything they want to do daily, they need your attention. So, when little kids wail and cry, don’t just let them be. Yes, give them time to settle but also give them your attention. The key to happy children is communication, attention, and undivided time.
Don’t protect them from failure.
None of us would value success if we never failed. Kids need to fail (read sometimes get hurt too) for them to understand what goes into being successful. Let them learn, explore and unlearn too. As a parent, we can be their guide, confidante, coach at all times. Hence, we must assist them to come to terms with conflict, struggles, and consequences too. Basically, the trick is to stay far enough for the children to devise their own anatomy and close enough to attend to their needs.
Do appreciate them
Oh Yes, who doesn’t love being appreciated? I often see and hear parents correcting their children when their child tells them or shows them something. Instead, offer praise. Appreciate their little efforts and encourage them to do well. To help improve your child’s self-esteem and happiness, we must continue to cheer for them.
Read here five positive things to say to your children
Don’t Compare or criticize
After seven years of motherhood and I have realized that sometimes it’s best to ignore. Some children may react negatively when you give them a bad reaction. Well, it is similar to how we adults would react too. Instead of criticizing your kids, offer them advice, and explain calmly the side effects of negative behaviour.
Do express gratitude.
If you want your children to be happy, content, and appreciate the little beauties of life, you must practice gratitude with your little munchkins. Besides teaching them to thank for the materialistic things, they need to be taught about appreciating the non-material things a well. The best way to do this is to make it a fun bedtime activity or getting them to write it down in a playful way.
While you are the universe to your children and vice-versa, teach them about socializing. Assist them to cultivate relationships and friendships. Happy children and parents pass on good vibes to each other when they feel positive. The attitude and behavior of children are closely linked to parental behavior. I know as parents we have mountains of responsibilities and work to take care of but let me tell you, being a parent is the most important one.
This post is part of the #Blogchattera2z blogging series where I will be writing all about my life as boy mom 🙂
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