The Toddler Life Parenting Guide – Raising Happy, Healthy and Safe Children
As a parent you should try to make sure that your child gets enough sleep every night. You should also encourage your child to eat healthy foods and get plenty of exercise. Your child needs to feel safe and secure so that they can grow into an independent adult who is able to cope with the world around them.
Parenting skills, and the ability to work with children, takes time and effort to build. Positive parenting involves every aspect of your daily life and being a parent will impact your social life. The important thing to remember is to build positive relationships with your children takes time and effort. One way of improving your chances of raising happy, healthy, playful children is to have a parenting plan.
Here are eight steps to help parents be more effective parents
Raising children is one of the hardest and most rewarding jobs in the whole wide universe — and the one for whom you may feel the least prepared.
These nine child-raising tips can help you feel better about yourself as a mother or father.
1. Boost Your Child’s Social Skills
Children develop their own self-image as toddlers when they observe themselves in the mirror and notice how they look to others. Their parents’ words and actions towards them shape their self-esteem more than any other factor.
Praise children for their achievements, however small they may be. Let them know that they’re capable and strong. Compare them favorably with others, not unfavorably.
Don’t say things like “That was so dumb,” or “You act more immature than your little brother.” These comments hurt just as much as physical punches would.
Be careful not to choose your words too harshly; let your children know that everyone makes errors and that they’re still loved by you, even if you don’t love their actions.
2. Be Kind
Have you ever thought about how often you criticize your children, even when they’re doing nothing wrong? You might be surprised at how often you criticize them for no reason. Would you feel good about a boss who criticized you so much?
You’re better off praising them for their good behavior instead of repeatedly telling them they did something wrong.
Praise yourself for doing things well. You may be surprised at how quickly you grow into the behaviors you want to see.
3. You need to set limits for yourself and be consistent with your discipline.
Discipline is important in any family. While parents want their children to be able to exercise good judgment, they must set boundaries so that their children become responsible adults.
Establishing house rules help children learn to follow directions and develop self control. For example, some examples of house rules would be: no TV until after schoolwork is completed, and no hitting, yelling, or hurting others.
You may wish to have a system in order to keep track of your child’s behavior. One example would be to give them a consequence if they talk back. Another example could be to take away privileges if they do not listen. Consistency is important because it teaches your children what you expect.
4. Make Time for Your Kids
Often times when families get together for meals, they end up fighting about something. Maybe one parent wants to watch TV while everyone else wants to play outside. Or maybe one kid doesn’t feel comfortable eating what another kid just ate. Whatever the reason, it’s important to make sure that everyone gets along during family dinners. One thing that might help is to try leaving the dishes in the sink or taking a short walk after dinner. Children who don’t receive enough attention may start acting out or misbehaving if they know they’ll be caught.
Spend some quality one-on-one bonding times with your children. Schedule them into your calendar every week so they know when you’re going to be there. Think outside the box by putting notes or treats in their lunchboxes.
Parents should always try to be available when their teenager expresses a desire to talk or engage in family activity. Going out with your teenager shows him or her that you care and gives you an opportunity to learn more about your kid and his or her peers.
Don’t feel guilty for being a working parent. Do whatever makes you happy. Kids won’t care.
5. Being a good role model means doing things right yourself so others can learn from
Children learn a great deal about how to behave by observing what their peers do. They also learn from watching their parent(s). While it is important to teach our children right from wrong and good manners, we should not allow them to see us get upset or lose control. When you are mad, try to keep calm and remember that your actions will reflect on your children.
Model the traits you hope to instill in your children: respect, friendliness,honesty,kindness,tolerance. Exhibit unselfish behaviour.Do what is right without expecting any recognition.Express gratitude and offer compliments.Above all,behave the same as you would expect others to behave towards you.
6. Communicate Effectively
You shouldn’t expect children to do things just because you say so. They need reasons for doing things. If you don’t give them reasons, they may start wondering about your motives and values. And if you’re not clear about yours, then they won’t know why you think certain things are important.
Let your kids know what they can expect from you. In case something goes wrong, let them know why. Tell them how you feel about the situation. Invite them to come up with solutions together. Encourage them to negotiate. They’ll appreciate your openness if they’re involved in decision-making.
7. Be Flexible and Willing to Adjust Your Parenting Style
If you often get frustrated when your child doesn’t behave as expected, you might benefit from reading up on the topic or talking to other people who’ve been through similar experiences.
When children grow up in certain environments, they tend to develop certain behaviors. So if you’re constantly telling them no, look for ways to modify your environment so that fewer things are forbidden. This will help you avoid frustrating situations where you say no to your child.
As your child grows up, you’ll gradually need to adapt your parenting style. Your current approach may not be effective for your child when he becomes an adult.
Teens tend to seek out peer groups for advice and support. However, they still need to be guided by their parent(s) and receive appropriate discipline from them. Also, take advantage of every opportunity to connect with your teens.
8. Be Honest About What You Want From Life
You’re responsible for correcting and teaching your children. However, how you teach them depends on how you communicate.
It’s important not to blame, criticize, or be critical when disciplining your children. Try to give them positive reinforcement instead. Also, let them know that you understand that they may fail again but that you still care for them.
As a parent, know your own needs and limitations.
Face it — you’re not perfect. Your skills as a family member aren’t flawless. But you do have good qualities. And you can improve your shortcomings. So recognize them. “I’m loving and dedicated,” you say. That’s great! But you also admit that you need to work harder at being consistent with your parenting style. You promise to try to be more patient. “I need to be stricter with my kids,” you acknowledge. That’s okay. You’ll get better at it.
And keep your priorities straight. Don’t let yourself get caught up in the day-to-day minutia of parenting. Make sure you give yourself enough breaks so that you can enjoy life outside of being a parent. When you feel overwhelmed, take a step back and evaluate what you really want from your life. Then set goals that help you achieve those dreams.
Focusing on your own needs does not make you self-centered; it simply shows that you’re concerned about yourself, which is an important value to teach your children.
