5 Ways to Bring More Joy to Your Child’s Life
Making our children happy is one of our main goals as parents. We want them to have the best of everything and ultimately succeed and feel fulfilled in their lives.
We can bring joy into our children’s lives in so many ways. The ways are not as complex as we think and can be accomplished with minimal effort with the appropriate mindset.
1. Be Happy
Lead by example. Kids mimic the world around them, especially at a young age. You are their whole world as their parents, so if you are happy, they’ll want to be happy too. The social learning theory has proven that people learn by watching others. Be aware that your children are watching everything you say and do.
Model the behavior you wish to instill in them. If you want them to be good people, show them what that means. Everyone makes mistakes, but how you learn from them and bounce back matters. Be open with your child about how you will grow from your experiences. Be mindful that no matter how old your child is, they are still watching you.
2. Promote Play
Playing with toys or on a playground is essential in child development. Play encourages self-growth and social and emotional development as well. By learning to play with others on a playground, children can build their social and interpersonal skills by sharing and talking to other kids. Play also promotes independence. Imagination is activated during play which helps kids to develop life skills that will help them in the future.
Do you remember seeing a merry-go-round for the first time? Trying new things ignites a spark in young ones and raises their spirits and self-confidence. The tenacity of children is intangible. Conquering fears and hurdles like crossing the monkey bars gives them the sense of accomplishment they need to flourish and grow.
3. Practice Gratitude
Gratitude has been proven to benefit children long-term. By practicing gratitude, children have shown increased happiness and social support. Acts and thoughts of gratitude can rewire your brain to form positive thinking rather than negative. By promoting a more positive mindset, children can learn that being grateful for what they have can make bad things not seem so life-altering. Self-compassion is a great tool to utilize during difficult times. It models to your children that while bad things can and do happen, you don’t have to beat yourself up about it. Recognizing your feelings and identifying that they are valid while not giving them the power to define who you are is a powerful tool to add to your child’s toolbox.
Teaching our children to deal with their feelings is a healthy way to instill a growth mindset. They must learn how to navigate troubled waters on their own to learn independence and responsibility. They will never know how to handle their emotions if we don’t give them the freedom to understand and experience them.
4. Applaud Efforts
Acknowledging and appreciating your child’s efforts can reap great rewards if you’re mindful of how you do it. You don’t want to encourage them to settle for less or only do the bare minimum, but you want them to know that their best is always acceptable. As long as they aim for success with their full potential and maximum effort, it’s OK.
Expecting perfection is not healthy. It sends a message to our kids that perfection is easily attainable and worth exhaustive efforts. That is not the case. Perfectionism is calculated and immeasurable. Efforts are maintained through hard work and determination.
Praise children for the work they put in, not the work they achieve. This will keep them more engaged with the work rather than the end goal or what they may appear to others. Having an optimistic attitude can do wonders for their efforts and perspective.
5. Be Present
This may sound cliche, but being present in your child’s life can bring them much joy. Eating dinner together has been proven to help children be more successful and happy in life. It instills a sense of social interaction and belonging that influences the mental and physical well-being of the child. Ensure that your child knows how much you value them and your time together. Make them feel seen and heard, rather than just someone you boss around.
Young or old, children have their thoughts and views of the world around them. Encourage them to lean into those hopes and dreams and form their own ideas and perceptions. Your job is to guide them down the correct way of thinking if you see them veer off the path, but it is not your job to control every thought or feeling they experience. Let them be who they are, not who you want them to be.
Apply
Practice all of these ideas and integrate them into your daily life. There are so many ways to teach your child how to be happy, but if they don’t see happiness around them, it will be hard for them to apply it to themselves. Practice and spread joy as much as possible in your life and watch it carry over into your child’s.
Ava Roman (she/her) (Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest) is the Managing Editor of Revivalist, a women’s lifestyle magazine that empowers women to live their most authentic life. When Ava is not writing you’ll find her in a yoga class, advocating for body positivity, whipping up something delicious in the kitchen, or smashing the patriarchy.
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