Make Your Child a Fighter!

“At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child’s success is the positive involvement of parents.”-Jane D. Hull

Though we all agree to it, but the question that arises is “What makes a good parent?’’

 

1: BEING A GOOD ROLE MODEL

 

Children watch everything their parents do very carefully. So, be the person you want your child to be — respect your child, show them positive behavior and attitude, have empathy towards your child’s emotion — and your child will follow!

 

2: EXPRESSING YOUR LOVE THROUGH YOUR ACTIONS

When things like material-indulgence, leniency, low expectation, and over-protection are given in place of real love, then we have a SPOILT CHILD. Loving your child can be as simple as spending time with them and offering casual hugs. Hugs can be powerful as they are known to be the stress busters, especially when they come from Moms!

 

3: PRACTICING KIND ‘AND’ FIRM POSITIVE PARENTING

If you are parenting with kindness only, you will encourage no respect. If firmness is the only tool, then feelings of rebellion will be nurtured. But when you insert the word “AND,” magic happens!  You need to set boundaries, routines, and limits while holding your children accountable to their choice. One example of kind and firm at the same time is: “You must brush your teeth, AND we’ll do it together. Want to race?”

 

4: NO SPANKING, NO MATTER WHAT

Spanking your child is making the child believe that he/she can resolve issues by violence^. This method never teaches the child right from wrong. It only teaches the child to fear external consequences.

 

5: ACKNOWLEDGING THEIR FEELINGS

You need to try to acknowledge what your children are feeling and provide them a space to vent out to you. This will help them feel safe to express all kinds of emotions with us under any circumstances without any second thoughts.

 

6: CONNECTING WITH THEM

Connecting with your children first, before correcting the behaviour or asking them to change the behaviour, will make things easier. The key is to show them that You Accept Them, Even When They Have Big Emotions. You do not need to accept their behaviour, but you can get to that after they open up to you. Connection alone will bring kids out of a tantrum, bringing peace to their overthinking and help you to understand their perspective.

 

7. TEACHING THEM HOW TO MOULD THEIR REACTION

Now that your child has been acknowledged and is feeling connected to you, this is the time that you can teach them what they can do next time. This is why this method of positive discipline is effective — you give your child the tools to know what to do. When You Act Instead Of Reacting To Your Child, You Are Helping Them To Solve The Problem To Handle Their Big Emotions.

 

The good part is, although parenting is hard, it is also very rewarding. The bad part is the rewards usually come much later than the hard work. But if we try our best now, we will eventually reap the rewards and have nothing to regret.      

 

It is the positive parenting that makes your kid a YODHA- a fighter who confronts the negativity and lives a happy life.

So, Happy Parenting!

Deepti Bhavsar

PPRT Educator