Before we start today’s topic, try to answer this.
You walk into your house, exhausted after a long day at
work. Your little four-year-old son comes running to you, shouting with
excitement, “Mamma, come see the castle I built.” You look around and see
pillows, blankets, and chairs fill the hallway.
How would you react to such a situation?
a) You get upset at the mess your son has made. You get
angry and shout at him to clean up the mess right away.
b) You say that you will take a look at his castle later
because you have to go and prepare dinner first.
c) You say that you are tired and need some rest. You will
look at his castle later.
d) You drop everything and enter his castle to become the
king/queen of his castle.
If you answered ‘d’, then you have established your 10
minutes of connection with your child for the day. If not, you may have missed
an easy opportunity to establish the key connection!
A top researcher from a premium institute explains why
all it really takes is just 10 minutes of your focused time and attention to
connect, bond, and build trust with your child.
Source:https://www.parentcircle.com/importance-on-how-to-spend-10-minutes-quality-time-with-children/article
Understanding and connecting with your child is one of the
most important things that a parent must do. Getting to know your child is a
crucial aspect of parenting. This helps you to bond and nurture your
relationship with your child, and in the process help them become better
individuals as well.
Benefits of Positively Connecting with Your Child
Helps to improve their mental health
Studies show that children who share a cordial relationship
with their parents are psychologically stronger and happier. These kids have
strong emotional support from their parents that gives them the strength to
rise and shine through life’s challenges.
Helps to reduce behavioral problems
When parents connect positively with their children, they
pass on positive behavioral traits like giving respect, empathy, honesty, and
others to their children. Kids embrace them and learn to differentiate between
good and bad in terms of behavior. This thereby helps to reduce behavioral
issues in kids. They try to imbibe and learn from what their parents are doing
taking them as role models.
Improves their physical health
Happiness and health go hand in hand. So, when kids feel
happy from within, it reflects in their overall health as well. And this
happiness comes from the affection they share with their parents. Spending time
doing both indoor and outdoor activities always has a positive impact on both
physical and mental health.
A study states
that the time parents spend with their children has a powerful effect on their
educational achievement/ It also keeps them away from different wrongdoings in
comparison to kids whose parents are not spending enough time with them or they
don’t know what their kids are doing.
A survey also found that many parents don’t always know if
their kids are struggling emotionally or about their interests which leads to a
big communication gap and can have grave consequences.
Here are some simple tips for spending quality time with
your children:
- Connect
daily with your child. It can be face-to-face connections before
school and work or sending them a little note in their lunch bags - any
kind of connection with your children is important and valuable. Ask them what
happened at the school or the playground.
- Tell
your child that you love them every day. Let your child know why
you love, trust, and value them.
- Create
some routine rituals, such as picking and reading a short book
before bedtime or playing some word game in breaks.
- Reinforce
positive behaviors with your appreciation. It doesn't have to be
always materialistic or something big. Simple words of acknowledgement
often mean a lot to them.
- Cook
a meal and eat together. This allows for the family to talk to one
another as well as fosters teamwork. Find some chores that you can do
together and enjoy.
- Schedule
time to do an activity with your child, let them choose. Such as
crafting, baking, family game night, etc.
- Play
with your child, even if it is just for a few minutes. Choose some
quick and simple card or memory games that rejuvenates and freshens them
up.
- Tell
jokes and laugh with your child. Laughter is great for improving
emotional health. Share your life stories from your childhood or about
friendship etc. and encourage them to share theirs.
- Take
time away from technology for half an hour and just spend time
listening and talking to your child.
Here are some questions which can help you to record both your and your child’s responses to check how much they match and how well you know them. Try it.
