You are likely doing an excellent job teaching your kids to keep
themselves physically healthy. You’ve taught them to wash their hands
before eating, to brush their teeth and to take a bath or shower.
Maintaining a healthy body takes daily effort.
Maintaining a healthy mind also takes daily effort. How are you teaching your kids to keep themselves mentally healthy?
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When your kids misbehave, how do you usually feel? Most parents report
feeling angry, frustrated or embarrassed. When you're feeling like that
it's easy to think of consequences that will make your children pay for
their poor behavior. They won't dare do that again!
When you use punishment in response to your children's misbehavior, they
usually learn to avoid getting caught in the future. However, they
aren't necessarily learning how to develop self-discipline and make
better choices. By focusing on solutions instead of punishment, you
increase the chances that it doesn't happen again - even if you're not
around.
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What creative activities do
your kids enjoy? When they are not on their digital devices or watching TV,
what do they like to do?
Are they the artistic type who likes to draw, paint or make sculptures? Do they
enjoy making up new dance moves? Do they like playing an instrument or
recording their own music? Are they drawn to acting out make believe stories or
creating plays with other kids? Do they love being outside designing obstacle
courses or challenging jumps for their skateboards or bikes? Do they like
baking or cooking?
Part of growing up is figuring out what you like to do and what you’re good at.
When your kids find a passion and devote time to it, they build their
confidence with their accomplishments. Trying out various creative activities
will help them discover their gifts and talents.
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How are you teaching your kids to show gratitude? Training your
children to say "please" and "thank you" is essential. This basic
social skill is critical in showing respect for others.
It takes plenty of prompting and reminders when your kids are young. It
is worth the effort. Developing the skill of showing appreciation will
benefit your kids. Expressing gratitude is crucial in maintaining
relationships.
Showing a Lack of Appreciation
It can be challenging for kids to consider other people’s feelings.
Part of showing genuine appreciation involves being able to put yourself
in someone else’s shoes. When children have not fully developed this
skill, it can cause problems.
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Being kind is a choice. It’s a win-win choice. You feel good about
yourself when you do something kind for someone. They also feel better
because of your kindness.
How would you rate the level of kindness in your family? Sometimes
being kind to those closest to you is challenging. It is even more
challenging for most people to be kind to those who are unlike them.
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Are your kids begging you to buy things? If so, the marketers are being
effective in teaching your children one of the best ways to get you to
break down and buy it - beg! Advertisers teach kids to beg because
they've proven begging works.
You also may be unintentionally fueling more begging by giving in to it.
One mom realized she contributed to her daughter feeling entitled. She
didn’t want to deprive her daughter so ended up buying her what she
wanted. Soon her daughter was whining for things whenever they went
shopping. Continually indulging her daughter resulted in her
undesirable behavior.
Influencing Your Spending
Did you know that kids under age 12 influence the spending of 700
billion dollars per year? From the brand of macaroni and cheese to buy
to where to go on vacation, children have a big say. No wonder
businesses are focused on turning children into voracious consumers.
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Your kids are encountering and solving problems all day long. When they
are babies, they let you know they have a problem by crying. You then
try to solve their discomfort by doing things like feeding them,
changing their diaper, or rocking them.
The older they become the more they can solve their own problems. If
you continue to solve their problems for them, they do not learn how to
think through their problems on their own. They learn to rely on you
instead of themselves.
How can you provide guidance without jumping in with solutions? Asking
the right questions can help your children think through problems. The
trick is asking helpful questions that do not feel like an
interrogation!
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Kids have suffered serious burns from squishy toys leaking their contents. This happened when a squishy toy was left in a hot car and the c...
