As a parent, it’s not just our job and responsibility to keep our children fed, clothed, and with a roof over their heads. We want to ensure that their emotional and mental development is healthy as well and that we’re equipping them to be able to face the world. Here, we’re going to look at the traditions you can start that not only help you shape your bond with your kids but ensure that they’re engaging with the world in a way that sets them up for success.
TALKING ABOUT YOUR DAY
Being able to talk candidly with your child about how their day went, and getting them to open up to you can begin a relationship based on communication and trust that will go a long way. For a lot of parents, this is going to be primarily talking about school. However, rather than just asking “How did school go,” which is an open question that a lot of children can have trouble formulating any real answer to, you should take a look at some more specific questions you can ask. These questions can allow you to dive a little deeper into the heart of the question, about the things they learned, how they’re engaging with it, the relationships they’re developing, and more.
MOVIE NIGHTS WITH THE KIDS
Of course, your role as a parent shouldn’t only see you talking about the ‘important stuff’ with your children. You need to have fun with them, as well. While there are plenty of ways to do this, including going out on family trips, going to the park for unstructured play, and more, finding good movies for family night can be an excellent way to get cosy and spend time together. Finding good family movies can also begin to instil the values and virtues that you want your child to embody. Be sure to leave some time to talk about the movies you watch, for instance, what makes the heroes admirable, to help those lessons sink in.
HELPING THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER
At some point, your child is going to realise that they’re part of a big wide world beyond your home and school alone, and how you prepare them for that world can define how they tackle it when they’re more independent. Community involvement, such as volunteering together, can help your child not only develop values that go beyond their own self-improvement, but it can also educate them about hardships in the world to some degree, can help them learn how direct action can solve a range of different problems, and it may make them more confident about facing that outside world and the community beyond their own home when they are old enough to. You need to expose them to the world in a safe and controlled way, and community involvement is a great option for that.
A strong bond with your child not only feels good, but it ensures that they will continue to trust and engage you in their life as time goes on. As such, you ought to take the traditions here seriously, as they can make a big difference.
