Put yourself in your child’s place. How do you know when someone loves you? It’s the little things, right? You don’t need grand gestures to show your child that you love him/her and how special he/she is to you. Knowing that you respect her, listen to her and value her ideas will make her feel special and help her grow up to be a happy individual.
Being Patient and Constructive
Even though children carry the genes of their parents, they are still individuals who have of their own ideas, dispositions, mentality and emotions, and parents who refrain from addressing their children negatively (telling them they wouldn’t understand or shouldn’t interfere) raise children who are self-confident and have high opinion of themselves and convince others to think highly of them. Answer each and every one of your child’s questions patiently and in a constructive manner. This is particularly important in terms of satisfying his/her curiosity and fostering the development of his/her personality.
In all this, the most important thing is patience. Even if your child is at fault, talk to him/her with an open mind without scolding and warn him/her by explaining the damage his/her mistake could have caused. Subsequently you will observe your child to be much more careful on the subject.
Positive suggestions
You are the busiest during the morning hours when you hurry around trying to arrange everything. If you get into power struggles with your child in the mornings, you can make him/her your priority for a time and you can start your day calmer. If your child attends day care, wake him/her up calmly, with affectionate caresses. Start your morning by having fun over coffee with your child (naturally her mug will only have milk in it!). Before starting anything, spare 10 minutes of your time in the morning catering to your child and his/her wishes.
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Physical contact is particularly important in making your child feel safe and special. Hug him/her tightly to yourself, sit with him/her in your lap, tickle, caress and kiss your child.
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Feel free to ramble. Children like absurd jokes, funny faces and all these done solely for his/her enjoyment. He/she understands your efforts to make her childish world a part of your world of serious adulthood. You can sing songs by changing the lyrics, try crazy hair styles on each other, and arrange birthday parties specially for him/her, even if it is not yet his/her birthday.
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Create stories that are unique to your family. These stories could be about an event you have been involved in, or a memory or totally imaginary. Write your stories on paper and draw pictures to depict the stories. You can turn these stories into bedtime fairy tales. Your child could play the main role in these stories. This way you give him/her the opportunity to be a hero.
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Ask for your child’s help. Ask him/her to contribute to the task you are presently involved in, and share the work according to what he/she is has the ability to do. This will make your child feel more important and special. To give an example, you can go shopping together and decide the things you will buy and cook for dinner together. You can ask for his/her opinion regarding home decoration and ask him/her to put the accessories into their places.
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Children like to defy the rules. Sometimes, eat ice cream together before dinner, or let him/her wear the clothing she chooses for herself when going out.
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Show your affection with words. Never hesitate to your child that you love him/her. Tell your child to be proud of his/her accomplishments, not to lose hope of success when faced with difficulties and that you are always ready to help. Express your love for him/her in the presence of others.
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Don’t neglect small stuff: Dance and jump up and down with your child, prepare small cards that demonstrate your love and play at the playground with her.
Content provided by: ZNN Network www.znnnetwork.com
Label: Baby care, character building, constructive training, home training, individuality, personality
