5 Things you should do for your child to trust you.
Have you ever realized that it just takes one second to build your child’s trust with you and the same one second to break it too? And that first impression of losing your trust remains with your child forever and he/she can never get back to sharing that trust equation with you! Here are a few things that can ensure that the trust factor between you and your child are well-maintained.
1. Listen to them!
As parents, very often we teach kids how important it is to inculcate good listening skills. But does it ever happen to you that you tend to forget that the same pertains to you too? How many times have you turned off yourself from your speaking child? Listen for one second longer than you think you have the patience for and you see all good things falling in place. And remember that only if you listen to them, they will listen to you.
2. Revert!
Responding is a kind of affirmation that you are listening to your child and it lets them know that all their aimless words matter. Appreciate them, correct them, suggest them but revert with an answer to build that confidence in them. It might seem very negligible of how much this factor contributes to the child’s trust in you, but that sense of assurance builds great confidence that those aimless talks do matter!
3. Show some respect!
When we say that we respect a person, what are we exactly respecting- her age, size, stature, or her levels of confidence, maturity, the decisions she makes and the kind of individual she is? Think for yourself on which set of traits you are looking for in your child. If it is the first one, then probably you are deviating from building trust in your child. One way to show them that you have respect towards them is by not interfering with their every task. Protect their individuality and make them believe that they can do it, and trust happens!
4. Welcome to their suggestions!
Make them feel important. Why in the world should a child be motivated to explore a topic and find solutions when you are not ready to accept the output of her mental programming? What should they even think of when they are being blatantly rejected? Think about it. It is a very well proven fact that children provide better solutions to problems than that of the adults. Do not reject their suggestions. Rather, make them understand why their suggested methods will not work. It might help them change their direction of thinking. But make them feel that they made some point out of it.
5. Do not give up on them.
If you understand that you cannot always get what you want from children, half your strain on raising a child is taken away. They surprise you and disappoint you as well. But you should not make them feel that they are shattering your expectations. Remember that every properly handled mistake by a child adds a building block to their character. As a parent/teacher, it is your responsibility to build the wall right.
