Encourage and empower your kids to become the best versions of themselves and ensure they are ready to face any obstacle life throws their way.
In the earliest years of a child’s life, they are influenced by what they hear and see in the world around them. As a parent or guardian, you want to do your best to ensure that what they experience during this time helps them grow into the kind, confident, and resilient adult, you know they can be.
Below are some strategies you can use to encourage and empower your children to help build their self-confidence, ability to make their own decisions and understand consequences – and of course, to show resilience.
- Listen and support
Regardless of the kind of day you’ve had, it’s important to come home and give time to sitting and talking to your child about their day and anything that may have happened to them. Allow them to open up to you about their thoughts and feelings, holding back on interjecting with your thoughts or advice.
Instead, let your child feel you understand them by empathising with what they’re saying and let them know their feelings are valid and you’re there to support them.
Allowing them an opportunity to open up to you daily will give them the confidence to come to you in the future with more significant problems as well as ask for your advice.
- Remove gender stereotypes
Parents are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of avoiding gender stereotyping. By doing so, you’re allowing your child to know they are capable of anything they set their minds to. Avoiding language such as “girls/boys don’t do/like that” will avoid making your child feel there is something wrong with having a particular interest.
For example, if your daughter wants to participate in a sport typically seen as one exclusively “for boys,” allow her to join in. Or, if your son wants to participate in drama classes, it will enable him to join.
- Encourage discussion
To avoid forcing your child into believing that what they think is wrong if it isn’t what you believe, share your thoughts with them through discussion and suggestion, rather than as the only answer.
If they are facing a dilemma – for example, at school – share how you would handle that situation as an alternative solution to what they are suggesting or what they have already tried.
Do so by speaking about yourself as if you were in their position and asking for their opinion when you’re done. Letting them know you’re listening to them by then asking what they think about what you’ve said will assist in promoting discussion and in creating a final approach or solution that you’re both happy with.
Encouraging them to talk this way is likely to make them feel comfortable coming back to you when issues arise in the future as they value your opinion.
- Let them make their own choices – guide, instead of enforcing.
Regardless of what the choice may be, it is essential to allow your child to feel that you trust them in their ability to make decisions.
When giving them the chance to choose for themselves, offer a range of suggestions and let them know of the pros and cons associated with each. If they struggle to decide on their own, guide them through the process of elimination. Acknowledging the difficulty in making choices and praising them for making good ones will build on their confidence to work through that process on their own next time.
- Take a risk by allowing them to take risks.
Although it can be scary to sit back and allow your child to take risks, this is extremely important in achieving your goal of raising a strong and independent adult. Finding who they are is achieved by taking chances and trying even when they are unsure or afraid of failure – the value of merely trying is vital in building their ability to overcome future hardships they may face as adults.
Please encourage your child to take risks and be there for them regardless of the result if they are successful in their attempt – praise and congratulate them. If they fail – praise them for trying and encourage them to think about other possible ways to approach the situation next time.
You may have to explain that failure is not a bad thing. That even you face failure. But you don’t allow it to stop you from giving something a go.