With the rising increase in societal problems like kidnapping, drug abuse, criminality. It is good to go back to the drawing board and find the root cause of this problem. How we raise children.
The way a child is raised plays a very pivotal role in how he becomes in the future, his role not just to the family but to the society at large.
Parents are saddled with the huge responsibility of raising a responsible child who won’t be a problem to society. Too bad many are failing in their responsibilities, pursuing careers, power, money, or are simply negligent probably because of the poor parental upbringing they have had.
Of course, it is a vicious circle. If you were not properly raised, you’ll likely raise children who are not good and they will raise their children that way. This is one main reason for the huge problem we see now in society.
On interaction with so many parents, I see that they have good intentions in raising good children but things do not always go as they want. Before their eyes, their little munchkins have become rude and indisciplined, with poor spending habits and engage with the wrong company.
They wonder, when and how all these happened and how come they no longer have control over their kids If you want to raise a good child, you have to take the bulls by the horns and get intentional about it. You need to learn, unlearn and relearn. It takes a lot of hard work, but it is achievable if you truly work at it.
I aim to raise a well-rounded kid that can stand in society and I take it with all seriousness. I attend classes, read research and I’m very open to new ideas to see what works best for me and my kids and I know I’ve started on the right path. From my extensive research, I will be outlining 10 important steps on how to raise a child. These steps are super important, you don’t want to miss out on any one of them, so keep reading.
1. Start The Process Of Raising A Child Before You Have A Child
During pregnancy and thereafter- The building blocks on how to raise a happy and smart baby is what you do while you plan to have a child and during pregnancy. Eating a highly nutritious meal, exercising, avoiding stress and emotional problems, avoiding habits like smoking or drinking has a huge impact on the overall brain development of your child.
The way you react to your baby’s needs is also very important. Feeding at when due, changing soiled diapers, keeping the child clean and fresh, cuddling, and petting when he cries makes a baby feel, happy, safe, and feel secure.
It builds confidence, trust, and strengthens the bond between you and your baby from early on. If parents are distant, cranky, always complaining, do not give time for the child, always arguing and disagreeing with your partner, it affects the overall development of the child from a tender age. The first step on how to raise a child starts from what you do even before having a baby, what you do while the child is in the womb, and what you do at his young age.
2. Work On Yourself
Your child is a chip off the old block (you and your partner). learning from your both, traits, values, character, about life. Who and what you are is what your child will probably grow into.
How to raise a child, boils down on how you and your partner are. You want a child that is smart, intelligent, and successful. Do you read books? Do you have the right company? Are you a successful person yourself? Do you know how to manage your time and money? Do you have a good work ethic? You want your child to be well-mannered and respectful.
Do you use swear words often or yell and curse? (you don’t want to miss this title: how to stop yelling at your kids). Children learn a lot by observation and practice. They watch their parents a lot. So, we should be the right model for them. Being successful in raising a child, largely depends on how well balanced and successful as a parent you are.
So if you’re feeling to do something different in the way you raise your child, you and your partner should start working on yourselves. Root out those traits you know that do not help you live the right life. Associate with the right company. Work hard to become successful in what you do. Then you have higher chances of raising a successful child. This is how to raise a successful child.
3. Develop Their Emotional Intelligence(E.I)
E. I is one key way on how to educate your child to succeed in life, and you do this by training your child to effectively manage his emotions. Kids are unlearned on the act of mastering their emotions.
They will be overwhelmed with a lot as they grow up. Learning independence, how to respond to discipline, handling responsibilities, relating with other kids. All these can jumble their emotions and you see reactions like anger, tears, fights, emotional outbursts.
This is expected. They are not born to naturally learn how to control these emotions. It is your job as a parent to train them effectively on how to manage these emotions.
You do this by first being empathic and understanding, not yelling or giving in to the emotional stress but rather helping them ease it. Teach them to identify when they are emotionally stressed, how to manage it, and more importantly give them time to develop emotional intelligence.
4. Establish Family Celebrations
Another important step on how to raise a child is by showing the importance of family love and bond. You can do this by going out for picnics, games, a time out, and having a family celebration or ritual that is always celebrated with each other as a family.
In some families, birthdays are a big deal, others thanksgiving or Christmas. It may be any special day you all pick together to be celebrated as a family. The important thing is that the celebration should be worthwhile.
Like When something is always done, it may become boring, so as a mom, bring in your creativity and make it interesting and inspiring. Make it a time when each member of the family can connect and bond.
Create fun activities, picnics, games to make it fun. It helps foster the love the children have, not just for you, for your partner and their siblings, even extended family members.
5. Teach Them, Love, By Showing Love
One of the best ways to train a kid is by raising them in an atmosphere of love. This matters greatly on how they grow, develop and see life, and how they relate with other people.
The best parenting method is making your kids see love in everything you do, even when you discipline them. I believe the 1st way on how to raise a child with love is the way and your partner relates in an atmosphere of strife, disagreement, and quarrels kid can hardly thrive.
There should be a relationship with a true connection between you and your partner, and the kids should see it. You both should be best friends. Play and, have fun with each other, always make time for dates, agree on things, or at least always come to a compromise and show maturity when you have misunderstandings.
You also show love by the way you treat people. You should treat people right with respect and honor. Lend a helping hand to help the needy. Lastly, love your kids in the best way ever.
Buy those things you know they love, take them to the best schools you can afford, create time for them, be always there to listen, share in their joys and fears, be ready to roll them in the sand with them, and apologize when you are wrong, discipline them right and do not overindulge them.
6. Create Meaningful, And Reasonable Boundaries
Make it known early enough that there are limits and consequences for breaking those limits. Let your kids know that they will not have everything they desire.
This is one child or bringing method, never to be ignored as a parent. You should give your child things but never overindulge them. Sometimes create limits to things you give them so they do not have an entitlement mentality that they deserve everything.
Teach them how to follow through with schedules. This is how to make your child succeed in life. Create routines for them to become more productive at school, house chores, their hobbies, and in other areas.
As you set boundaries, also give room for some mistakes and errors. They will keep learning how to stick to routines, they may defy rules, or put up tantrums when you do not give them everything they want. Be calm and find creative ways on how to help them manage all these.
You should be firm with boundaries but understanding also. When you set boundaries, you will see that with time, your kids will be able to adapt more to life’s pressures, become more stable, emotionally, handle challenges effectively, and be more confident.
7. Teach Your Child To Establish Strong And Meaningful Relationships
Your child will interact with friends at school, neighbors, and extended family members. One habit that parents fail to cultivate is teaching kids how to establish meaningful relationships.
They Feel it comes naturally and see no point in teaching communication skills and helping their kids build relationships. One step on how to raise a child is by teaching the child to create a good relationship with people.
Even if you are an introvert, you still need to relate with people sometimes. So also your kid. Let your kids know your friends. let them have a healthy relationship with people. Teach them good communication skills. Encourage them to go out and play. Let them make friends and make sure you know their friends.
Make them know that as they are important, so also are people. Teach them to understand that people have different perspectives on life and sometimes they may not always agree with their friend’s view, and it is perfectly normal. In case of conflicts, be there to listen and help them resolve the conflicts and when necessary. Very importantly, cut them off from negative and toxic relationships.
8. Teach Responsibility
From an early age, start showing your child how to be a responsible person. That way you would educate your child on how to succeed.
From age two, you can start engaging your kids in house chores like picking up after playing, keeping their rooms neat and clean, keep their properties safe, make them account for bad actions, and teaching them to apologize.
Also, teach good time management skills, and enlist their aid for cooking and house chores when they are much bigger. As you make them responsible, they grow up to become responsible adults who are more successful and happier. That is how to raise a successful and happy child.
9. Teach Them To Prepare And Eat Healthy Meals
You can teach them this by modeling this yourself. Make it a habit in your home to eat healthy, wholesome, tasty, and nutritious meals every time.
Not only does it strengthens family bonding and togetherness, but it also makes them grow healthy, sharp, and smart.
Minerals, carbohydrates, and proteins build healthy bones and teeth, boost brain development builds Immunity, and replenishes the skin. As you raise your child to eat healthy meals instead of sweets, snacks, and over-processed foods, they grow up to become happier, healthier, and stronger.
Also, teach them cooking skills. Start with simple meals, like toast, sandwiches, and fruit drinks. When kids eat right, there is less tendency to develop malnutrition and other health conditions related to food.
10. It Is All About The Process
The nitty-gritty on how to raise a child boils down on the process, that is what you do and how you do it. You may have great ideas on how to raise a child but if you do not implement them properly, it will not make much meaning.
Do not expect your teenage child to have some maturity when you have not raised him well in finances or taught him to be independent. Focus more on the way and how you teach and raise your child instead of what you think or expect him to exhibit.
When you do not see the desired behaviors in your kid, go back and re-strategize. Do not compare your child’s performance with other kids.
Achievements should not be the only thing you look out for in a child. The challenges, failures, mistakes should be also welcome and you both should find work together and find ways to overcome them.
It is easy to be a parent but takes a lot to become a good one that raises well-rounded individuals. The world needs parents who are serious about their parenting role, who can raise kids that can scale through life, kids who make society a better place, because like a wise man said “ we do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children”
Save this for later mama!
