What sort of parent wouldn’t want their kids to be the very best version of themselves that they could be? There are lots of factors that will go into whether your kids grow up to be well rounded, happy, healthy, adults, but one of the main things will be the influences around them. As their parent, you are one of the biggest influences imaginable in their lives. If you want your kids to be the best version of themselves, it all starts with you.
Here are some pointers that will help you:
Make Sure You’re Setting An Example
You can tell your kids as much as you want about being the best people they can be, but if you’re not setting an example, it’s not going to do any good. You need to make sure you’re being the best version of yourself, and only then can you feel confident that your kids will do the same.
You should be healed mentally and emotionally, and go about your life in a way that would make you proud if your kids were doing the same. You should be living a balanced lifestyle, feeling good, and being as happy as possible in each moment.
Only when you know you’re setting the best example for your kids can you be sure that they will copy you. The term ‘monkey see, monkey do’ definitely applies here.
Reduce Stress
You don’t realize it, but your kids know that you’re stressed. You might think that you’re hiding it from them, but they can sense it. Not only does this make your children anxious and stressed (yes, they get stressed too) they tend to become more stressed as they age. You know those people that always seem stressed and there isn’t much that can help them? We all know somebody who seems to be chronically stressed. You could be teaching your kids to be this person. Your mindset and outlook on life will shape who your kids become, so make sure stress is kept to a minimum and that your outlook is positive. Being in a growth mindset is also important. Your mental state is just as important as the things you do to set your example.
Eat Meals Together
You’re probably wondering how eating meals together can make a difference, but it seriously can. Eating meals together has been proven by studies to make your children smarter and likely to do better in school. It also suggests that they will avoid doing things like smoking in the future! You don’t have to eat every single meal together to reap the benefits. Having one meal together a day, whether breakfast or dinner, will make a huge difference. Get into a routine with it and make it one of your ‘family rituals.’
This should make a huge difference on the progress of your kids. It also gives you all the opportunity to catch up and talk about anything that has been on your mind. It can definitely be classed as real, quality time.
Teach Them Self Love/Care
Teaching your kids to value themselves enough to love themselves and care for themselves is so important. It’s becoming more and more difficult for kids to learn to love themselves as they are these days, what with surgery advertisements and other things shown at every opportunity. By teaching your kids to love and care for themselves while they are young, you’ll do them the world of good! It’s never too early to start teaching them how important this is. You can take a look at resources like a parent’s guide to caring for newborn dry skin if you need a little help. Remember; as we said before, you need to set the example. Loving and caring for yourself is the first step. Only then can you genuinely show your kids how to love and care for themselves.
Read A Lot
Reading will gives your kids so many important skills while they are young. They’ll develop listening skills, speaking skills, and communication skills in general. They may also become more creative and imaginative as a result. You can never go wrong by instilling a love of reading into your kids. Read all kinds to them, and when they get old enough, get them to read to you. Surround them with great books from great authors and the results will be great.
How about reading together as a family? You know how some families sit and watch TV together? You could do this instead. It’s going to be far more beneficial and productive than watching TV.
Stay Away From Damaging Social Media Profiles/TV Programs
You can’t protect your kids from every single thing, but helping them to stay away from damaging social media profiles and TV programs will make a big difference. Pay attention to what they are consuming, and teach them about photoshop and things that could teach them to view their bodies in a distorted way.
Help Them To Find Hobbies That They Love
Hobbies are so beneficial for children. They help them to build confidence, make friends, give them a sense of community, teach them various skills, and can even become a passion for them for life. It’s up to you to help them find hobbies that they love! You can start by introducing them to a hobby that you love and see how they react. However, don’t force it on them. Let them try different things and see how they feel. They might like playing an instrument or a sport. They might even like building model trains! Whatever it is, let them have a go. Take them to classes and workshops to see how they get on.
Bring Them Up Doing Chores
Something parents do that can be seriously damaging to their kids: bring them up waiting on them hand and foot. Instead, bring your children up doing chores. This is not ‘cruel’ as some believe. This teaches your kids about hard work, getting things done, and responsibility. You also get the opportunity to praise their efforts and practice the way to praise them properly. Many parents mean well, but when they call their children ‘talented’ and ‘naturally amazing’ they can actually damage them. Children can grow up feeling anxious about failing or getting things wrong, and will prefer not to try at all rather than disappoint their parents.
Take Your Time Searching For The Perfect School
The way you influence your kids will shape them, but so will the school they attend. They will spend a lot of their time there once they reach a certain age, so making sure that they go to the right school is incredibly important. Make sure you research the best schools in your neighborhood. For some, you may not be in the catchment area; some parents go as far as moving or even buying a small place in the area to get their kids a place at the best schools! You may not have the means to do this, and that’s fine. As long as you send your kids to the best school for the resources available to you.
Find The Right Home/Neighborhood
Your neighborhood may play a huge role in how your kids grow up too. They may spend time with kids in the neighborhood, spend time at their families houses, and they’ll be creating memories in your family home. Making sure you find the right home, in the right neighborhood will make the biggest difference to your kids.
Praise Effort
This point is all about praising your kids the right way. Praising your kids is great, but you need to make sure you’re making the effort to do it properly. This means praising effort, rather than praising talent. You want to use your words to encourage your kids to put effort into things, to try hard at the things they want to get good at. You don’t want to call them talented and natural born geniuses, as this can actually make them grow up with anxiety, not wanting to try things through fear of failure. They’ll be afraid of disappointing you and ruining your unrealistic view of them, so they won’t even try at all.
You want your kids to be in a positive, growth mindset. When you praise them the right way, they’ll learn to do this naturally.
Get Them Into A Great Bed Time Routine
Making sure your kids are getting regular, adequate sleep is your duty. You can’t do this if you’re letting them go to bed at different hours every night. Make sure they have a consistent bed time routine where they go to bed and get up at the same time each day. Signal that it’s close to bed time a few hours before bed by making them stay away from screens and start reading instead, as well as turning down the lights.
Inspiring your kids to be the best version of themselves is all about being the best version of yourself, and helping them to get into a growth mindset!
About Jammie Morey
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