Happy family, happy children

 

Family is the most important relationship of all.  A child gets their foundation - how to think, act, and how to behave from their family. When a child is born, he/she is totally innocent.  Their behavior is also influenced by their surroundings.  What type of TV do they watch? Is that educational or entertaining? What about Roblox? As a parent, if we don’t pay attention to our kids' activities, then we have to pay the price for it.

Children watch and copy their parents instead of what we try to teach them.   This makes it more important than ever for the parents to be a positive role model for their children.  Monkey see monkey does!

A child’s outlook on life is formed very early (research indicates this can be as early as 5 years old) and can influence their lives.  

What type of words are we using?  Are they positive or negative?  For optimum results, be very aware and very selective in your choice of words.  

For example, if you keep saying, “You are silly,” or “You are stupid,” then it will be retained in their subconscious mind.  As a result, when your child grows up, they may think they are stupid or worthless.  Their self-esteem will be low.

Also, it is wise to be aware that comparing children will lead to low self-esteem as well.  Each child is different and unique. In this regard, Dr. Shefali Tsabary is a great teacher. I also watched a YouTube video about best parenting.

In our recent world, both parents get busy in their jobs so there is very limited time to spend time with our kids & that is the most precious time to spend with them. Because they won’t stay as a kid all the time, they grow faster than we think. I have noticed most of the parent’s handover iPad, phone, video game or let them watch the TV channel to their kids for unlimited time and they are busy in their own world. Here, what I am emphasizing is, allocate your time properly. Let them watch or play for a certain time and spend some quality time with them. Listen to them, play with them, understand their hobbies, likes & dislikes, that’s how you will have bonding & you can create wonderful memories. And you won’t regret in future for not spending time with them.

If we want to have a balance & fulfilling life, then it is very essential to learn about prioritizing and managing time for everything in our life. Kids have so much creativity & they think everything is possible, but as they grow, we start telling them it is not possible, that’s how they shrink their dream. As a parent, we always need to provide a good environment for them so that they can flourish and grow.

 

I had wonderful memories of my childhood with my family, although financially my parents were in a tough position but that did not hinder having a quality time with family. My parents used to allocate everything such as food, task among the five of us equally. They never discriminate among us, they were the role model for us, we never see having any arguments or fights between our parents. Especially every Saturday we used to have movie day, where we all used to finish our allocated task before two pm and watched movies together. We used to spend quality time together. We siblings have a great bonding from that time and still we have that type of bonding although we all are far. Every weekend, we all come online and chat together because we were grown up like that. We were the example in our communities. All of us know the real struggles and where we are today is not only from our own effort but the foundation was good.

So, if we want our kids to be successful in every area of their life, then as a parent we are responsible to provide that type of environment. The most important thing is the quality time not the material things.

During the weekend, plan for family activities, we can be creative and do anything we want. It is not necessary to be expensive. Any activities that engage all the family members such as cycling, playing Ludo, drawing or cooking together. That’s how we can have bonding with our kids & create memories which can be cherished later. If we do that, then we don’t regret later for not utilizing the time when they were kids.

                                        Here is my question to all the parents, how much time are you spending with your kids? I am talking about quality time which means 100% attention to them. I know most of the parents are busy, but we all can put an effort into taking out some quality time with them.

If we want our kids to listen to us, then we need to listen to them as well. The one strategy that I used for my daughter to do her homework is first I play with her whichever game she wants then she has to listen to me as well, so I will ask her to do homework. I stayed with her while she was doing her homework. I made a routine for her; it is so simple. She has to write what she is grateful for a day, some writing and reading practice and daily yoga or Zumba for ten minutes.

Now, it becomes her daily routine. If I can do it, you can do it too.

When kids are talking to us, do not use the phone, give 100% attention to them. Be a good listener.

Let’s feed them with positive and encouraging words instead of negative word, let's provide a good environment in order for them to learn and grow, let's be a role model to our kids, we all can be better parents, we just need to be committed to take out some time every day to spend with them. 

 How do you want to see your kids when they are adults? What type of memories do you want to create with your children?