Raising Emotionally Healthy Children: Acceptance

Third in a Series of Articles on Raising Emotionally Healthy Children


Read the first article in this series: Respect

Read the second article in the series: Important

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Guest Post from The Children’s Project

The third critical emotional need of children is to feel Accepted.  Accepting children means listening, trying to understand them, and accepting their right to their own points of view, feelings, desires, opinions, concerns, and ideas. If we act in a way that condemns or ridicules feelings or opinions of children, the implication may be that there is something wrong with them. When that happens, you reduce the chances of their listening to you and of your being able to influence them.

Top 40s Singer Offers Tips for Parents of Kids with Big Dreams

Sydney Rose - Rise

Does Your Child Want to be a Star?

 

If Sydney Rose, 20, could talk to the young contestants who wowing audiences on shows like “The Voice” and “The X-Factor,” she’d tell them: Even if you don’t make it to the end of this contest, if you have a vision and a talent, don’t ever give up!

The singer/songwriter whose debut pop single, “Breaking Rules,” hit No. 15 on the national radio Top 40 chart earlier this fall, says she tried to put her dream on hold – and couldn’t.

“I’ve been in love with music all my life,” says Rose (www.sydneyrosemusic.com). “I’ve learned it’s an important part of who I am and you can’t ignore that, no matter what your age.”

It’s Tough to Stand Firm!

Mom Standing Firm with Son

Standing Firm with Your Kids is Hard, but Better for the Long Run

 

When our children are young, we get many opportunities to stand firm over things like candy before dinner, screen time limits and their begging for stuff.  Even though these are simple things, it can be rough on us to remain firm. After all, it’s painful to endure the ensuing responses whether they be disappointed looks or all out melt-downs. But deep within our souls we realize we must remain strong. We may not always act on that knowledge, but there is long term payoff each time we do stand firm.

When my children were young, I had shortsighted vision about standing firm. I guess when I stayed strong it was because I felt it was best for my child not to have whatever it was they were begging for at the time. I don’t think I was giving lots of thought to the practice I was getting for when they were older. I now have the hind sight to share with others what holding firm is really all about, long-term.

Saying ‘no’ when you know you should tells your child that she has a strong parent, you love her enough to set and enforce limits and helps her to learn delayed gratification as well as resilience. Another great thing about standing firm is that you are modeling inner strength for your child. When you do not cave to her pressure, she is less likely to cave to peer pressure later on.