Today most parents find limited opportunity to spend extended time with their children and this is true especially for parents who are working in multinational companies. In such a scenario, it is important for parents to make sure that the time they devote to spend with their kids – should be meaningful and qualitative.
According to Counsellor Shivani Misri Sadhoo, the first thing parents should do when they spend time with their kids is to encourage them to strengthen their bonding. This can be done by listening to the child about what has happened throughout the day, tell them a story, hug and remind them that you love them. Secondly, Counsellor Shivani suggests to make the time between parents and child meaningful – parents must teach their kids important values of life. These could be:-
1. Honesty
As children grow up under the influence of friends, internet, television, computer games and social media, they all can teach them to lie and manipulate. It is important to diffuse this by reinforcing the value of honesty.
Remember in most cases children learn to lie due to fear of getting scolded or being punished if they admit their mistake, so let them know you will always make time to listen to them. Applaud their courage for telling you the truth, but make sure you are firm yet gentle with things they did wrong. If you go back on your word, that may set an example of dishonesty which can be counterproductive.
2. Inculcate courtesy and respect
Children learn respect at home based on how parents and others in their lives treat each other. Hence be courteous, use words like “please,” “you’re welcome,” “thank you” and other in front of the child. Similarly, involve your child when you take care of your parents, assign them small tasks to take care of their grandparents in your absence – like remind them to have medicine, serve them water, offer them food etc.
3. Gratitude
Remember all that hard work you put on your kid can make them take their life’s blessings for granted unless you teach them to be grateful for them. When people take their blessings for granted, they easily become emotionally fragile individuals – prone to emotional and psychological issues. Teach your child to be thankful and understand that their life is a blessing as not everyone is as fortunate as they are to have benefits such as food, shelter, friends, good clothing, etc. Helping your child understand this will make him more appreciative of what he has.
4. Responsibility Responsible children grow into responsible adults. It is important to teach children to take responsibility for both good and bad actions they do. This helps to prevent your children from growing into whiny individuals who are always trying to blame others for things they have done wrong.
Note: One thing parents must keep in mind that telling them one thing repeatedly rarely can teach the child these values. These can be best taught to a child in the form of storytelling - good folklore, fairy tales, Panchatantra etc. Along with that, parents should also consider devoting time for meaningful activities and involve their kids – like visiting NGOs, feeling poor, visiting old age home, orphanages etc.
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