Good and bad habits children form stem largely from their upbringing. While good children’s habits are to be encouraged, bad children’s habits should not be condoned.
5 children’s habits parents should prevent from developing
1. Rudely interrupting conversations in order to talk
Some children are impatient and can’t wait to tell their families what they think. Regardless of what setting they find themselves in, parents should not indulge their children in this poor behavior.
Parents must let their children know that it is rude to interrupt others. When your child interrupts you, sit them down and tell them to wait or arrange an activity that will preoccupy them, as an interim measure, while you finish your conversation.
2. Being overly dependent on their parents
It is wise for parents to train their children to become independent from an early age by encouraging them to use their hands to become practical and brains to reason and problem-solve. In fact, children at a very young age are very eager to help and like to do things. This is the time parents should engage them in everyday household chores and expose them to a variety of life skills. During these times, it is imperative for the adults not to be overly critical, fussy, or emotional. Children always learn by example.
Parents who are overly critical and always interfere in their child’s attempts at doing things will lead to insecure, fearful, and dependent child-adults, whereas those who allow their children to make mistakes and fail in their attempts, while kindly offering positive and sound advice, will raise independent, fearless, self-achieving, and grounded adults. This is one of the important children’s habits to encourage.
3. Having poor time management
Setting a daily routine for children and helping them develop good time management skills is an essential part of parenting. As every parent knows, children who are left to play their favorite game will be oblivious to time. For this reason, parents need to create set routines and time limits for playing, eating, and sleeping.
Parents who don’t establish and follow set times and routines eventually find themselves being controlled by their children.
4. Taking things from others and taking them for granted
Some children play at other people’s homes and often see toys they like and want to take them home and claim them for themselves. The host family may be generous and will allow the child to take the toys home. Parents of these children should not encourage such behavior as this will form a bad habit whereby their children will come to rightfully expect to always gain free things from others.
In these instances, parents should let their children know an ethical truth: “Do not take things that do not belong to you, even if they are small things.” Parents should guide their children to learn that no matter how much they like other people’s toys or things, they cannot take them home freely and claim them as their own. This is a basic principle.
5. Using temper tantrums to get their way
Some mothers are familiar with this scene: While grocery shopping in a supermarket, a child spies a favorite treat and asks the mother to buy it. The mother refuses to buy it. In response, the child begins to throw a tantrum by falling to the ground and rolling around screaming. To stop this embarrassing scene, the mother gives in to the child’s demands.
To avoid giving in to bad children’s habits, the parent should calmly take hold of the child, and without speaking, go outside and wait until they calm down. Avoid speaking to the child while in an agitated state. After calming down, quietly explain that their crying is useless. It is important for parents NOT to verbally reprimand and blame, creating another emotional scene.
Translated by Eva and edited by Maria
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