Be a great parent – These tricks will help you bond better with your kid
Do you want to be a good parent? Do you want an environment at home that is discipline-free (where discipline is not forced and comes naturally)? Do you want to raise a kid that is healthy, smart and confident?
You have to be that kind of a parent who inculcates the behaviour in the family to have a kid who looks forward to you as the role model and becomes like you. The secret of raising a smart and confident kid is to build a strong bond with him/her.
And how do you build a strong bond with your little one? That’s exactly what this blog will be talking about.
1. Keep the foundation strong
Everything starts with a foundation. If you really want your kid to connect with you life-long and from the beginning, you should keep the foundation right. For example, a study I read about a while ago stated that when a father takes a set of leaves from work to spend time with the baby, the baby gels up with the father better and has a stronger bond with his baby throughout his/her life.
This is something that two-way effect. When you be there for the baby, he/she will also be there in the later years. The experts say that when a man bonds closely to his newborn, there are high chances that the baby will bond with him throughout his/her life. Hence, keep a strong foundation to be on the right track.
2. Keep in mind that relationships take time to work-out
The moment you read this title, you’d think about the bonding between you and your partner. Well, this definitely works in this respect as well, but this is also applicable for kids and parents. A perfect parent-baby bond starts to build strength from the birth of the little one, but it takes time. If the parents wouldn’t love the kids, the concept of raising them up wouldn’t have existed.
With time, the bond gets better when the parents stand strong in the difficult phases of the kiddo’s life. From his/her studies, shopping birthday dresses for girls/boys, to any kind of external pressure that can make them think a lot if you stand strong with them, you’ve achieved that level of relationship that you’ve dreamed of.
3. Give priority to the quality time spent
When you talk about relationships, you cannot forget the quality time that you should be spending with the other person. Likewise, your little one needs to spend time with you – quality time. If you think that quantity is not necessary, you’re living in a myth because until there’s quantity, there’ll hardly be quality. So, the perfect balance of quantity and quality is what your relationship with your little one is made of and it takes time to reach it.
4. Don’t quit trusting – it is one of the features of foundation
Trust is not what builds within a fortnight. It takes time. When your little one is an infant, he/she will make sure that you don’t break the trust at any cost. For example, they will remember when they looked at you but you didn’t feed them or they reached out but you didn’t pick them up. You should be there in action if you really want your munchkin to trust you with everything. The situations may change over time, but the trust will get stronger.
You don’t have to put in complete trust or start trusting your child blindly in the growing years but letting him/her justify herself is what we’re talking about. Trust means never walking away from the relationship in frustration because you trust that he needs you and that you will find a way to work things out.
5. Motivate, encourage and motivate
You need to emphasize on these two aspects a lot because motivation and encouragement are terms that can put your kid on the right track or even on the wrong one. Your child is like a tiny plant that needs the motivation and encouragement as sunlight, water, and fertilizers. With the positive motivation and encouragement, your child would come and own up anything and everything that he/she does and feels guilty about.
Rather than scolding the little kiddo, you can look for options which make sure that the respective mistake is not repeated.
6. Remember that respect must be mutual
Isn’t this obvious? However, we as adults forget to remember this rule with our kids. We generally consider ourselves to the adults and find it quite convenient to boss around them. Whether or not it is the kid’s fault, we always think that the little one should be asking for forgiveness rather we asking for the same. Rather than empathizing with the kids, you want them to understand your situation. Well, that’s absolutely wrong. If you want them to respect you, you should be doing the same.
For example, I was in a bad mood one day and yelled at my 4-year-old and in return, she said, “I don’t like behavior”. Since then, I made sure that I talked to her with the dignity she was looking for and she does the same with the family members and everyone else too.
7. Party with them and go on road trips
On holidays or vacations or even on weekends, you can celebrate spending time together by heading out for a road trip or partying at your favorite restaurant. You should dress well and make sure that your little one dresses the best in his/her clothes. This is a fun way to gel up with your young ones and explore the options to enjoy with them.
You can head towards Disneyland, Amusement park or any museums with the entire family. This will serve as a well taken for a much-needed break and enjoyment for your kids.
8. Read a good book together
Parent-kids relationship is more than talking about things, it is also spending time in the bed together, reading them a bedtime story is a perfect idea. You can read a story for them or make them tell you a story when you snuggle together in bed. This way, you can in-build the habit of reading in them as well as give them reasons to think, justify and look for solutions. Stop and talk about what your child thinks about the story. Ask what he would do if faced with the same circumstances as the characters. His answers will give you a glimpse into how he perceives the world.
9. Teach something that excites them
There are so many things that you teach them through the different courses of life. It is much more educational studies and learning how to make your bed. Teach them how they can enjoy taking walks in the garden, look at the stars in the night, how to enjoy cooking, dance in the rain and do so much more.
10. Go on long walks
Autumn might sound like the best days to go on long walks, but the other seasons too are the perfect bonding time that allows you to discuss life. After dinner would be an apt time (if you take dinner a little early) to take your dog out and spend time together.
11. Go on parent-kiddo date every month
Who doesn’t like going on dates? Even the kids do if they are up for ice-creams, chocolates, and other goodies. You can even take them on a shopping-spree or shop at home with the online stores at the touch of your finger. This will build the bond really well and he’ll/she’ll look forward to spending more time with you than doing anything else. Just fun things to do.
12. Slumber party
You can organize a camping night-out in the backyard with your little one. In order to make it more fun and give it a time of being together, you can invite some other families too (depending on the size of your backyard) and make sure the other kids are your kid’s friends. Have a great time together snuggling, chomping on popcorn, watching a movie, playing board games and doing more. Doesn’t that sound fun to you?
13. Out yourself as a former goofy kid
You must have been a goofy kid when you were young or might have done things for which you are still remembered. Tell the stories to your kids and also tell them that it is okay to be the naughty one sometimes. Tell them a funny story about something funny you did when you were their age or about something embarrassing that happened to you. Laughter shall ensue.
These are some of the ways with which you can gel up and bind better with your little one. The first half focuses on the serious aspects whereas; the second half is full of fun. Indulge in all the sorts to make it fun for your little one.
Author Bio: I’m Priya, a writer by choice and an observer by nature. Being a mother of 2, I love to share my experince on parenting. I have been writing about the kids fashion, lifestyle and health for quite some time. I have written content for many websites like Foreverkidz.in.
