Hi folks! Hope you have read my blog on “Stress and Anxiety in Children”. This blog is a continuation of the blog. In this blog I would be helping you with some effective techniques to raise psychologically healthy and happy children. So here we go:
- Create a safe and happy environment around your home: The more your home environment is safe and jolly for your child, the more psychologically healthy he/she will be. A good and balanced home environment fosters sense of security, self-confidence, sound physical health and overall sense of well-being in a child.
- Appreciate your child: Like us, children also want to be appreciated for their achievements and actions. No matter how small or silly your child’s act is… Try to be generous in appreciating your lil’ champ. Appreciation improves self-concept and self-esteem in your child. It also helps him/her master new skills, focus, a well-defined personality and motivation.
- Spend quality time with your kid: Even in your busy work schedules, stress and pressures try spending quality time with your child. Talk about your day, try to connect with your child, know more about him/her, try to inculcate a good value system in your child and show your love-warmth-affection. Some parents think that spending time with their kids is like a duty. If you are also thinking like this, then you need to understand that more than a duty it should be a priority. You child is the blessing of your love… The innocent, pure and Heavenly expression of what you and your partner created. So never fall behind in expressing to your child how much you love him/her and what he/she means to you.
- Make every corner of your home speak your heart out: If you are a working parent or a busy homemaker, then try to communicate your love and affection plus the way you want your child to be in alternative ways. Hanging family pictures or good times spent with your child on the walls, decorating your home with your kid, inspirational wall hangings, etc are some of the effective and interesting ways to communicate the right message to your child.
- Be an active listener: Even if you are a kind of person who wants to talk more and listen less, try to listen to your child as much as you can. Sometimes children convey messages that are very important in their lives and development. If you miss out these important points, then this may lead to serious complications.
- Do not discuss or enter into conflicts in front of your child: Children are very sensitive and their minds are very perceptive too. They tend to record and sink into each and every thing they observe. This creates their thinking and responding styles. So, if you fight or create conflicting situations with your partner, your child gets very psychologically disturbed. It shatters his/her thought-world, makes him/her confused, isolated, depressed, aggressive, hostile and he/she develops many personality deficit. So, the rule of the thumb is, try to keep conflicts at bay. Discuss and try to resolve the issues when your child is not around. “Treat others the way you want to be treated”.
- Supervise your kid while socializing, watching TV and during exposure to such social/media aspects: I have seen many parents allowing their children to watch TV or socialize without proper guidance. In this process sometimes children are exposed to violent scenes and other negative things that convey the wrong messages to them. This leads to a negative and unhealthy psychological reaction in your child and makes him/her susceptible to mental health issues too. Try to sit with your child and supervise him/her in such situations so that they understand and learn the right things.
- Do not compare or underestimate your child in front of others: Let me ask you a question: Would you like a scenario in which someone despises or underestimates you, points your weaknesses and flaws? No, right? If someone does this, you would obviously feel bad and dejected. The same thing applies to your child too. Try not to discuss or say about your child’s weaknesses or flaws in front of others. Never compare your child with another too. This destroys his/her self-confidence and puts a very negative impact on your child’s personality, thinking patterns, etc. It makes him/her more depressed, confused, stressed out, isolated and anxious. I am sure you won’t like that to happen. Your child is the most precious possession you have and is gifted with his/her own unique qualities. So try to recognize and acknowledge that. If you want your child to work on his/her weaknesses, instead of telling it to others, make your child sit with you and both of you plan and workout on how the weaknesses and problems can be sorted out.
- Understand the difference between reinforcement and punishment: Reinforcement leads to positive outcome while punishment leads to negative reactions and behavior If you want your child to give up a bad habit or something negative, then try to reinforce and shape a desirable behavior rather than punishing him/her.
- Be a parent cum friend cum role model for your child: Love and guide like a parent, support and understand like and friend and be an inspiration for your child like a role model. This will help your child to develop into a fully-developed human being with the greatest gifts of a sound physical health, a well-balanced mental health and it will help your child to grow into a fully-functioning individual.
Becoming parents and parenting are different facets of helping your children grow. Anyone can become a parent, but to foster effective parenting that boosts a good psychological well-being in your child is a challenging aspect. Parenting is an art. The more creative and careful you are, the more worthwhile children you would gift to this world.
