Teach your kids to handle themselves and give them an advantage to taking on the world!
Every parent worries about how their kids will get on in life, but there is such a thing as worrying too much. While it’s natural and expected to care about your child’s wellbeing, living with them wrapped in bubble wrap can affect them more negatively than you might expect.
It doesn’t need to, though, and raising a child, or even children that know how to handle themselves will ensure they are prepared for the big and sometimes scary outside world. If you’ve got young kids, here are some things and ideas to consider the help them feel ready for moving out into the world.
Don’t Freak Out
It’s natural to panic when you see your kids hurt themselves, and you’re always worried about what it could be. Whether it’s a grazed knee, chipped tooth, or just muddy hands, your parental instincts kick in, and you want to rush over to help them.
And that’s a good thing, of course. However, it’s not always the best solution. The more you freak out, the more your child will freak out, and this will cause them to get upset over even the most minor things.
Instead of panicking when you see your child hurt themselves, especially if it’s a little trip or fall on the playground, leave them to understand the extent of their injuries. The less you panic about them, the tougher they will be.
Allow Independence
Kids will never learn to handle themselves unless you allow some modicum of independence. As a parent, it’s up to you to determine what level of this independence can be. You may enable them to head out to meet their friends and come back before dark. Other parents, especially young kids, may prefer to keep that under wraps and instead merely allow them to do things like crossing the road themselves or head to the store to pick up some milk.
Allowing them to prove you can trust them will help them grow up faster, and it will give them confidence in doing things themselves. Later in life, this will help them manage through life and navigate it more confidently.
Ask Them for Their Input
Too many kids feel that their parents, or any adult, don’t respect their opinion. So, while you won’t ask them to make decisions that are too important, you can still ask for their input on other things.
This can be what you have for dinner, where you should take your next vacation, or picking what movie to watch. Not only will they feel their opinion is respected, but they will also be able to work on their critical thinking and reasoning skills.
They will inevitably make some impossible suggestions, but that’s okay. As long as you can explain to them why that’s not possible, they can think of alternatives instead.
Give Them Responsibilities
As your kids get older, you can start trusting them to do more things around the house, and these responsibilities will help to prepare them for the real world. You can start small while they are young such as requesting they put their shoes neatly in the shoe rack and keep their room tidy.
As they get older, you can start to think of other ways they can be responsible. Doing chores is an obvious one, but this won’t always get them prepared. Ask for help with making dinner or fixing things, and not only will they learn responsibility, but also useful and vital life skills.
Help Them Get Organized
If there’s one thing a lot of kids struggle with, it’s organization, and if they fail to learn how to get organized, their time management will take a hit, which means they may struggle to deal with deadlines and appointments once they are free of the shackles of a school routine.
Teaching them how to get organized is easy enough. You can demonstrate the benefits of doing the more important things first before moving onto more leisurely activities. This teaches them responsibility and also how to reward themselves. While it may take some time for them to get it, they’ll find that such practices and habits will serve them well in the future.
Organization is vital for any success, so when they head off to university or start work, they will be able to prioritize tasks more effectively and manage their time efficiently.
Ready for the World
Parents often don’t mind looking after their children even after turning eighteen and entering adulthood. However, it’s still important to make sure that they understand what they can do themselves. As maternal or paternal as you might be, they need to be able to handle themselves, and with these ideas, that’s precisely how they can manage that.
