06 August, 2008

How to raise a happy child

Like any parents, I want the best for my children. My hubby and I has done almost everything for our Ruth, Cynthia and Isaac. Making sure they are healthy, spending valuable time with them, happy and are loved unconditionally. Most parents wanted to know whether their kids are happy and how to develop a child self confidence and ensuring they are happy most of the time.
Some child psychologist said, happiness is not something that you can give to a child like presents but to develop a set of inner tools which they can rely on throughout their life.
The signs of a happy child:- always smiles, plays, exhibits, curiosity, shows interest in other children, doesn't need constant stimulation. These are among the points made by child experts which suggest parents to learn read the signs.
But there are times hubby and I become upset when our kids start throwing tantrums and also not eating well. Lil' Isaac eating habits are much better than his sisters, at least he is not in our lists of worries :-) I'm finding some ways now how to make a child eats better, some people says we have to put some creativity in preparing their meals, any suggestions? But anyways, I hope their poor eating habit is not link to any stress symptoms.
Few more suggestions from child experts on raising a happy child.
1) Make room for fun. I think this is one important point especially like us, working parents to spend enough time with our kids like playing together with their favourite toys, board games, watching cartoons and good movie together or simply read books with them. On weekends, we spend time with our kids like going to the mall, buy groceries, eating out or watch some Disney movies together.
2) Help them develop their talents. Well, this year hubby and I noticed our girls develop their interest in drawings. Drawings expressed their inner feelings and sometimes they drew us(daddy and mummy) in their drawings. There are times lots of heart shapes for mummy and daddy and there are times more X X X when they get angry with us hehehe... It's one way to know my kids feeling.
3) Teach them to do meaningful things. (I would like to know your suggestions on this)
4) Be their role model.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Carolyn ..this is good topic ...I also facing the same problem as u when my kids starting to throw tantrums, not eating well and play so much ..being a role model for them is of course the biggest challenge for us as a parents kan ..because sometime the negative side of us will slip without we notice but the kid will notice it first ..
for no.3 .. i think we should teach them to love one another as part of our life till we died ..because this thing kadang2 boleh lupa especially in this world we are living right now ..

Carolyn said...

yes i think we adults need to be extra careful esp when they are around. They easily pick up/imitate bad habits from us. I n the daddy also sometimes 'terslip'cakap. TQ for your opinion. I hope I can get more opinion from others too

Agnes CF Lee said...

is a difficult task for us parent. we are always strive to provide a healthy & loving environment for our kids. Thanks for sharing these useful tips.