Home ยป Kids
Kids
Shape Your Kids' Confidence
By Kevin Hensey
One of the best and scariest responsibilities that you have as a parent is to help your kids in their emotional needs. More important than expensive toys and next to good health, having a great self-esteem is the best thing that kids can have to ensure their success. The reason behind this is that when they have a healthy self-esteem, they will be more confident in their actions. So what can you do to ensure they have it?
Be a good role model: You are your kids' first inspiration. What you do, how you act, how you talk, how you react even how you eat are all recorded in their minds. Needless to say, your positive character traits will be their positive traits; your negative traits will be their negative traits too. See that they get more positives. From something as basic as showing respect to the elderly to being a good troop leader, your child's actions will cause him or her to be well-liked by everyone. And, you as the parent will get quite a nice reputation as a bonus.
Good communication is priceless: Not only should you tell your child about rules and regulations for discipline, tell them what you want their life to be. Remember that kids did not come into this world like a computer with a built in program. You have to teach them everything. You have to give them a direction, otherwise what do you expect them to do? After all the practical aspects, teach them to set goals. Let them know that you want their life to be successful with a great career they can be proud of. Your kids will unconsciously use this as some sort of imaginary 'blueprint' to structure their life. Talk to them and listen to what they want too. You might be pleasantly surprised by the freshness of their ideas. Plus, when you listen to them, their confidence will grow more and more because they know that you will always be there for them.
Tell them that you'll be there to support them: All talk and no action is like eating pizza without the sauce - it lacks a certain important ingredient. How would you feel if someone keeps on telling you that you will be a great race car driver if they don't even teach you how to drive? Say your kid wants to do well in science for example, so encourage that desire! Buy some books; go to field trips; show your child the planetarium; take a trip to a museum - anything and everything to help him or her. That will definitely show her that their goals are important for you too.
The future is for our children. Preparing them for it - shaping their character - will be one step in helping them conquer it.
So You Want Your Own Bed Back?
By Suzanne Spencer
For many of us the nightly performance of getting our children of to sleep in their own beds usually ends up with us giving up just for a good nights sleep. We say to ourselves just for tonight, one more night then your kid is back in their own bed. All too often one night becomes two and so on. You have just had one of those mornings were your little one would not settle the night before and when taking them to school you're both a little grumpy because you are both sleepy. You need a solution. Most of all you need a good night's sleep alone in your own bed.
The most loving way to get your child to sleep in their own bed is to lie next to them until they fall asleep. Most children have a fear of separation at a young age - they don't feel safe and secure when left in their own room. Getting them use to their bedroom is half the battle. A well balanced routine would help a lot. Once the child knows what is coming next they know what to expect and what is expected of them. Winding down time is needed to begin with an hour before bed time. Even if its just sitting watching TV this will slow them down, while supper is introduced during this hour or maybe even a bath to calm and put your child in a relaxed frame of mind. Brushing teeth and putting night clothes on will also help the child with bed time.
Once your little one is settled in bed ask if they would like a story. this will add to the winding down time. When the story is finished put all the lights out, put on a night light if your child is afraid of the dark, or simply leave the door ajar. A good night kiss should be associated with the end of the day. And once you've repeated these suggestions for a few weeks you should notice the difference. Things like this do take time but it's worth it in the end. Introduce a chair to the child's bedroom as close to their bed as possible, start to read the story from there, and the child is secure that you are still with them till they fall asleep. Then, each night start to move the chair away from the bed until you are reading their story from the bedroom door. If the child gets up and out of bed let them know you're still there - reassurance is needed more than anything at this point . By the end of this you should be able to do all of the above: read them a story, kiss them good night, and leave the room and have your own bed back.