As all parents want their children to become healthy, strong, and independent, we should all start asking ourselves how to achieve this?
Raising strong and independent children is the goal of every parent. Watching them grow every day and become more and more self-reliant is our biggest joy. Certainly, when our children are still babies, or toddlers they rely on us for nourishment, cleaning, and mobility. As they grow they become more independent in certain things but they still need our love, guidance support, and protection. So the best kind of parent you can be is by leading them by example because their brain is like a sponge, they soak everything they learn from us, our behavior, our actions, words, and even our mimics.
I’m not talking about babies, they need our full attention. I am talking about toddlers and kids from two to six years. This is the time when they need to learn basics things like dressing up, washing their hands and face, washing their teeth, good manners, being safe, communicating with us and others, and of course the consequences of their bad behavior.
Daily Routine
Every child needs a routine just like the adults do, for example, when they wake up, we tell them to first go to the bathroom, to wash their hands, teeth, and face. In the evening take off the clothes, put on the pyjamas, go to the bathroom, wash their teeth, etc.
Getting Dressed
This should be a second task of the day, teaching them how to get dressed. It is a skill that every toddler should know. I know some of the kids do this on their own, but there are some kids who don’t even bother to learn because their parents were dressing them, and didn’t give them the opportunity to learn this skill. Start teaching them and make it a goal for them, when they do it right, compliment them, they will feel important, and it will help them with their self-confidence.
Ask Them for Help
Ask them to help you make the breakfast, or to put the bread on the table, to feed the pet, hang a jacket, clean up a spill on the table, put the trash in the trash can. Involving them more in daily tasks, I know it can be very messy sometimes, but it is totally worth it. Don’t forget to thank them when they accomplish the job you assigned them to.
Communicate with Them
Ask them what they want to do today, how was preschool or school, what did they like the most today, what did they eat, what was the thing they didn’t like that day? How are they feeling about that? Communication will forever build bridges and connections with your child.
Teach Them How to Be Safe
This is a very important skill to learn for their own safety, children can easily get hurt if they don’t learn how to take care of themselves, it is our job to try to teach them and try to keep them safe, even though they still get hurt sometimes, but they will learn the consequences of their own behavior. For example, we can teach them if they have to drive the bicycle they need to put the helmet on, if they don’t, they won’t get the bicycle for two days or more.
Set Limits
Every kid is unique in their character, and sometimes they tend to be very stubborn. We need to teach them the consequences if they don’t follow the rules, explain to them simply what they did was wrong, the consequences need to be logical, meaningful, and simple. For example, if your child won’t share the toy, that toy can’t be used for the rest of the day.
Help Your Kid Make Friends
We all want our kids to socialize and play with other kids, we need to teach them how to be good friends, even though sometimes they will be arguing, we need to teach them to stay calm and not hit, grab or shove anyone. It is important to guide them and help them to learn how to solve problems on their own. Stay calm and watch your kids as they start to develop confidence and skills to communicate calmly and politely with others.
As I mentioned above every child is unique and special, every child responds in a different way, we as parents should do everything to help them be healthy, first of all, and then teach them how to be on good behavior, to help them set boundaries, to know their self-worth and become great persons when they grow up.
Photo: Evgeny Atamanenko/shutterstock.com
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