Today is National Children’s Day. As a way to celebrate children, we’re giving you tips on ways to strengthen your relationships with them.
It’s no secret that parents are their kids’ role models. Children repeat what you say because they’re learning from you. It must be the right thing to say if you say it. They’re learning how to interact with others, solve interpersonal problems by watching you, and sometimes use words and expressions that they’ve heard you say.
Many times, children will ignore what you say and will mimic what you do. This means that if you’re kind to others, they tend to be kind too. If you talk calmly when you’re frustrated, your kids will try to do the same. If you lose your patience with people, your kids will likely do the same. Telling your kids to behave in a way that you don’t typically doesn’t work. For example, if you tell your kids that smoking is unhealthy, yet you smoke, they may choose to smoke. Your behavior tends to be more influential than what you say to them.
No one is perfect, and parents certainly aren’t. Perhaps, you made a few mistakes and bad decisions as a teen and young adult that you don’t want your kids to know about.
Kids ask parents if they ever snuck out of the house, smoked, did drugs, had sex before marriage, or drank alcohol while underage. It’s up to you how you want to answer their questions and if you want them to know what you did. What’s important for your kids to know is that you’ve made mistakes or poor choices that you’d rather they not make because the consequences of those decisions can be severe.
If you pretend that you were a complete angel, then it’s likely that your kids won’t believe you. Your kids don’t expect you to be perfect, then expect you to be real. Realism makes you relatable because your kids will face many situations. If they see you as relatable, they’re likelier to talk to you.
Share your thoughts on my Facebook page: Blanca Cobb – Body Language Expert. Write a message on my timeline, and I’ll get back to you. While you’re on my page, I’d appreciate it if you give my page a “like.”