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Parenting

Tips for Building Confidence in Your Kids

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Whether your kids turn out to be naturally shy or outgoing, you have a big role to play in developing their confidence and making them feel like they can take on the world. Of course, everyone’s approach to parenting varies, but there are a few universal tips which we are going to discuss in this article. Both your words and actions can end up making a big difference, so we are going to talk through a few different points in this blog post which should spark off some creativity in the parenting approaches that you choose to take.

Demonstrate Love to Your Child

The basis of confidence is often formed on love. If you can demonstrate to your child on a regular basis that you love them regardless of who they turn out to be, this can end up giving them a great boost of self-esteem and assurance. Your child needs to feel accepted by you, but you can also encourage siblings to show this same level of affection, as well as helping your kids to form close connections with friends. Though it may be difficult to show a focused level of affection to your kids for an extended period of time, you should try to listen to them as much as possible, encourage them in their pursuits, and show support of their ideas.

Give Praise When it is Due

Kids of all age crave the approval of their parents, but this is especially true in younger children. This doesn’t mean that you should simply offer them a pat on the back no matter what they have done, but if you offer praise appropriately, they should start to feel confident in their achievements. Of course, it is also important to instill the values of hard work and practice in improving their talents. After all, the world is not going to be as kind in offering praise no matter what they do.

Help Your Child Set Realistic Goals

One of the great pleasure in life for adults is achieving goals which they have set for themselves. You can give kids their first taste of this feeling by helping them to set and achieve some goals for themselves. Of course, you also need to make sure that they are realistic as this can easily get disheartening if not. With younger children, the goals should be short-term as they are less likely to have the patience and fortitude to achieve them. However, over time and with age, you can support them in achieving feats which are bigger and more complex.

Give Your Kids Independence

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One of the biggest steps in helping your kids to grow up into well-adjusted and confident adults is by giving them independence and gradually building this up over time. It may start out with giving them the opportunity to choose their own clothes from the likes of Nickis, but over time, you will want to allow them to go out on their own around the local neighborhood and beyond. Giving this independence is harder is the age of 24-hour news when you are brought so many negative news stories from around the world, but it is important that you allow your kids to take steps towards independence when the time is right.

Teach Resilience

As we mentioned earlier on, life is not always going to be plain sailing and there are bound to be setbacks and complications. It is how you respond to these that can end up making or breaking you. So, kids need to have these values of resilience instilled in them from a young age. You want to encourage them not to dwell on their failures and disappointments, but rather learn from them and come out the other side stronger. Try to help them with the steps of what they can do differently next time to improve their results and enjoy a more successful outcome to their problem.

Encourage Them in Their Pursuits and Hobbies

Another way that kids can gain confidence is through their outside pursuits and hobbies. First of all, you need to play a role in helping them to find their passions. Then, you need to encourage them to pursue these by enrolling them in classes, transporting them around and buying them the equipment that they need. It is a good idea for them to have both creative and fitness-based hobbies so that they learn to become well-rounded people who have a range of different interests. Even if their interests aren’t the same as yours, it is still important that you encourage them all the same.

Be Consistent in Your Parenting

A consistent and stable home life is one of the keys of encouraging your kids to be confident in the future. When your kids know the rules and boundaries, they know how they can and can’t acceptably behave. Essentially, you need to find a balance in giving them the freedom in their pursuits, while also reinforcing that there are certain consistent boundaries that they have to adhere to. As children get older, you may afford them the chance to have more input in their rules and restrictions, but you should still retain control in being their parent rather than trying to be their best friend.

Encourage Adventure and Discovery

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Even though rules are important, this doesn’t mean that you should rigidly control every part of your kids’ lives. You also need to allow them the freedom to develop a sense of adventure and joy in discovery. With younger kids, you may need to have a bigger role supervising from the sidelines. Day trips, vacations, the pursuit of hobbies, reading…these are all ways that kids can become more curious and adventurous.

Building confidence in your kids is something that you will keep doing for them throughout their childhood, and even into their adult lives. These are just a few of the best ways that you can achieve this.

Life, Parenting

4 Things No Parent Is Prepared For

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It doesn’t matter how much you love your child.
It doesn’t matter how many parenting books you’ve read.
It doesn’t matter how often you’ve told yourself you wouldn’t make the same mistakes than other parents make.

There are many parenting situations that nobody is prepared for. These situations can be challenging. They can push you to your limits. They can get you outside of your comfort zone. More importantly, they test you, sometimes in the most brutal way. Nobody is born a parent. But while most people have expectations of what it would be like to have a child and of how they will help their children to explore the world, real life can be full of surprises. If you and your partner are expecting a child, these are some of the most unexpected challenges that you might need to face. There is no right or wrong answer. But here is, in 5 examples, the heartbreaking truth that no parent wants to talk about.


Are you ready for the challenges of parenthood?

Challenging health conditions at birth

When you have a child, you expect that your son or your daughter will outlive you. It is the way things should work. So, it can be devastating for many parents to discover that their child was born with a health condition that can significantly reduce their life expectancy. Unfortunately, there is no answer to the typical question: What do I do now? Some parents choose to fight to give their child the best chances in life, such as the parents of Alfie Evans, the little
boy born in the UK with a fatal disease. The toddler was kept alive by artificial ventilation for the best part of his life and the family spent a lot of time researching legal options to give time for his condition to improve. Unfortunately, when it was clear that Alfie couldn’t be saved by medicine, the parents lost their legal battle and their son died. This
soul-breaking experience is one of many parents. Parents of a baby born with Edwards syndrome often face the pain of losing their child within a few days after the birth. In this condition, like in Alfie’s case, it is unfortunately advisable to take no measure to sustain the life of the child due to their medical abnormalities.

Troubling and unexpected allergies

Not all medical conditions have dramatic consequences. A baby that is born with an allergy can enjoy life normally. However, it is essential that parents remain attentive to signs of troubles or negative reactions to external factors. For instance, a baby who is allergic to baby formula might be often sick after their feeding time and may express
discomfort through crying during the digestion period or showing a skin reaction. Allergic reactions can be difficult to
spot if there is no history of allergy in your family! Additionally, allergies can lead to terrifying reactions in a newborn
from vomiting to purulent rashes.

Difficult behaviors

Babies, when they grow up a little and reach toddler’s age, can begin to interact with their surrounding in highly emotional ways, such as throwing a tantrum when they are displeased with events. While tantrums are a perfectly
normal phase of parenting, it can be challenging at the best of times. After all, a lot of parents can feel at a loss when
their child misbehaves so severely that it causes a strain on familial relationships. Tantrums are not acceptable and
need to be targeted effectively. But could there be a medical condition that can explain your child’s reaction? Kids who suffer from ADHD or anxiety are more likely to throw terrible tantrums, for instance. Additionally, if you’re too worried about the attention that your child’s behavior brings to be a responsible parent – aka, if you give in at the first tantrum to get your peace back – aka, you might encourage negative behavior.

Does your child behave?

Troubles at school

Finally, when your child goes to school, most parents hope that their kid will bring back straight As within a few weeks. Unfortunately, kids who struggle with maths, or reading are not uncommon. Some troubles can appear as early as during the third grade. Don’t be harsh with your child. Instead, take the time to address their issues as early and in-depth as possible. Learning disabilities do exist, and when treated effectively, they don’t need to be an
obstacle. Indeed, dyslexia, dyscalculia and concentration disorders can be identified, so that your child can receive the support they need. Ultimately, there is no need to make a child feel stupid when they are struggle with learning difficulties!

Becoming a parent is a challenging experience. You need to prepare yourself mentally and emotionally for a variety
of stressful situations. Remember that a good parent is someone who can accept their child as they are. You’ll never be alone through difficult times.

Life, Parenting

Keeping The Kids Busy This Summer Vacay

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The school vacation days can be quite overwhelming for parents, can’t they? Weeks and weeks ahead, with no clue how to keep children of varying ages occupied and happily so. Sometimes, parents don’t get the chance to be out of work with their kids, so it’s up to summer camps and sitters to keep them occupied. The good news though, is that if you’re a parent that is fortunate enough to stay at home and take care of the kids, there is plenty that you can do to keep the kids occupied, happy and fulfilled in the many sunny weeks ahead of you all until you get to the new school year all over again.

What you need is a breakdown of things that you can do to give your kids the summer vacation that they will always remember. With the tips below, you can keep everyone in the family happy without busting your bank account to do it.

summer vacation, kids, parenting, travel

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Staying At Home

If you aren’t going to be getting out too much – whether that’s due to the weather or to funds – you need some ideas of what you can do around the home. You can do something nice with the garden to make it an appropriate and fun place to play, and you can use these ideas below for doing things inside.

  • Movie day – everyone grabs a duvet and takes turns choosing a film. You can also have someone nominate a snack, whether that’s flavoured homemade popcorn or rice crispy cereal snacks.
  • Cooking lessons – children don’t just learn at school, they learn with their hands at home as well. Have a few days teaching the kids to make their own recipes and give them total control over what they cook. It’s exciting, messy and they learn something new.
  • Build a den – get as many boxes and materials as possible with the kids and start a den-building competition. You could all be judges and choose to rate each den out of ten, before making one big super den!

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Going Out

You may decide to get out of the house as much as possible during the summer break, which means you are all soaking up the sun and getting a good amount of exercise.

  • Going away – book a vacation away with the kids for a few days if funds allow. You can sort this much earlier in the year so that the cost is spread and doesn’t take you everything that you have in the bank to make it happen.
  • Treasure Hunt – organise a treasure hunt in the back yard or the neighbourhood. You can rope in their friends, too, and organise a prize for those who solve the puzzle.
  • Camp out – just because your kids haven’t gone to summer camp, doesn’t mean you can’t have a summer camp in your own backyard. Pitch a tent, get a fire going and cook up some tasty s’mores. Where the weather doesn’t help, you can always migrate back inside!

Make this summer the most memorable yet!