Settling down with your partner and having children is a life goal for the majority of people around the world. The thing is that conceiving children is easy, however looking after; bringing them up with the right manners and attitude as well as making sure they have a happy attitude cannot be achieved by just winging and trying to figure it out as you go.
In this article, we are going to be listing useful tips from a psychologist on how to raise a happy child.
1. Happiness Does Not Equal Limitless Appeasement.
Making sure that your child is happy does not mean that you have to buy them or do for them everything that they want that is one of the worst things that you can do. This will only provide your children with short-term gratification and will teach them a bad habit where they will believe that they are entitled to get whatever they want.
Instead, you should teach them that if they want to achieve or get something that they will need to work for it and also the reality that you cannot have everything that you want in life.
Furthermore, you need to instill in your kids that happiness from material things is not the way to go and again will not bring them any happiness throughout their entire life instead they should try and be happy about themselves, what they have achieved, their friends and family and also grateful about everything that they have.
2. Reward Them.
Related to the tip above, although you should not give your child everything that they want in order to keep them happy it is very important to reward them accordingly when they have achieved something significant that is beneficial to their life such as if they have got good feedback on their school report if they worked the entire summer on their first part-time job and for studying hard for their exams, for example.
This is important to do with children as it shows them that they are doing the right thing and reinforces their knowledge that when they work hard, they do something positive and productive that they will be rewarded. The rewards do not have to be anything major, they can be something simple like your child’s favorite bar of chocolate or snack, with another great idea being to spend more time with them.
3. Spend Time With Your Children.
All children love their parents and want to spend time with them. Therefore, it is important that even if you have a busy schedule, that you make sure to find time at least once a week to go out and spend time with your children.
The best thing with children is that they are very easy entertained thanks to their great imagination while they are still learning about the world around them, so you can simply take them to the park or play some kind of game with them if you have a garden as well as board games, the possibilities are endless.
In the 21st century, it is very easy for parents to simply leave their children to play video games on their computer or console, but this is not something you should do as it weakens the bond with your child which is very important for your child to be happy.
Another way to spend more time with your child while being productive is to invite your children to help you cook if they are old enough and if they also are interested in doing, as forcing them to help you cook will not help build that bond or allow you to raise a happy child.
4. Teach Kindness.
Kindness is something that a lot of people take for granted, however if you want to raise a happy child it is important to teach them how be kind as it is something that costs you nothing, but it can bring a lot of joy to another person’s life as well as make your child feel better about themselves.
You can teach your child kindness by educating them to be kind to their siblings if they have some and to family members, as then the children will be able to witness the happiness that they bring which should show them that this is a positive thing, and it will help provide them with happiness in their childhood with a high possibility that they will then take on in their adult life.
5. Be Reasonable.
Another point that you need to keep into account is that you need to be reasonable with the way you discipline your child and how you behave. Some parents want to make their child a better version of themselves, but this is a terrible approach to take as your child is a living person not a robot and no one is perfect.
Some examples of this can be telling your child to instantly wash their dishes and cutlery after they have used them; there is nothing wrong with that as long as you do it too.
Children will see that you are not doing what you want them to do, so they will, and they will lose respect for you and in the future will no longer be happy and have trust that what you want them to do is best for them.
6. You Need to Be Happy, Too.
It is important to keep in mind that although children are not on the same level of maturity as adults to understand why you may be upset they can still figure out that you are not happy. You should not try and mask your feelings as that will not work since it will not solve the issue that is making you unhappy and your child will most likely still be able to sense that there is a problem.
Instead, what you should do is be grateful for what you have and also if the problem is not important and urgent to sort it out that you should leave it until you go have time alone, or you go back to work if the problem is work-related.
7. The Result – a Happy Child.
Arguably one of the most important things to do if you want to raise a happy child is to be happy yourself as it will allow you to enjoy the precious moments that you spend with your child and be a better and more loving parent.
Read an interesting article: What Are The 10 Signs of a Troubled Child?
