Parenting An Optimistic Child

Scientists and researchers report that a person who is optimistic has a longer life span, achieve more in life, and have less stress than a person who is pessimistic. All parents want their children to happy and meet their goals as they grow. Can we help our children become optimists instead of pessimists? The answer is yes, we can and here are a few specific ways of helping your children become optimists.

Your child builds an optimistic outlook when he or she experiences success. Their self-esteem is raised when they experience a challenge and conquer that challenge. You can help your child develop an optimistic attitude and help them experience success by giving them small tasks and praise them when they accomplish it. You can help small children learn to be successful by asking them to help sort socks, pick up toys, or other small household chores and then praise them when they finish the job.

When your child has a small success you can help them see how it happened and praise the child for the talent that allowed them to be successful. If they made a great grade on a test you can reinforce their success by helping them see how they accomplished it. Did they study extra hard or did they prepare exceptionally well for a project or test? You can praise them for their accomplishment and give them credit for working hard on their goal. You can help them focus on the traits they exhibited to accomplish their goal and encourage future success. This promotes optimism and gives them the courage to face other goals and believe they can reach those goals.

If your child does experience a failure or negative situation you can help them by allowing them to express their feelings and emotions. You can help turn around a negative experience and help them to move on. Help hem to look at the situation in a different light and help them focus on other successes. They are sure to be experiencing some sad emotions if they are normally used to success or felt they prepared well for a test but still did not score well. Remind them of past successes and assure them they have the talent and skills and to put this experience behind them and go on to the next challenge. It is important you allow your child to vent their emotions and feel their feelings.

One last item to suggest to all parents is to not label your child with a negative label. You will have to correct unacceptable behavior but don’t place a label on your child they will have to live with the rest of their lives. A label such as whiner, fat child, lazy, or airhead can label them for others and for their own lives. Be careful of what nicknames you give your children. A child’s self-esteem begins when they are very young. Their feeling of self-worth comes from parents and those adults who are close to them. Help them feel good about themselves while they are little and it will grow as they grow.

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