Respectful Raising Of Boys And Girls: 6 Tips For Parents
As parents, one of the most complicated things to achieve when raising young children is knowing how to set limits for them; make them learn to adapt their behavior to certain norms, for their own good and for the good of others.
For this reason, sometimes we fall into the trap of short-termism, either by indulging them in whatever they ask for to prevent tantrums or by almost completely restricting their movements. Neither of these two apparent solutions is adequate for children to develop healthy ways of interacting with their environment and with others.
In this article we will see some tips to apply respectful parenting of sons and daughters to day-to-day family life so that they incorporate consistent standards of behavior into their habits.
Tips to apply respectful parenting with your children
These are some basic tips that you can add to your parenting strategies for your little ones to educate them and relate to them with respect and empathy, setting limits but without constantly falling into confrontation.
1. Explain what is okay and what is not
Even though they are small children, they need to understand why the rules they must follow, and if you do adapting your explanations to the type of concepts they have become familiar with it won’t be difficult for you to understand it.
Just because they are very young does not mean that they should operate from ignorance, on the contrary: if there is something they do not know, like everyone else, they tend to invent possible explanations, so you better help them not to stray too far from reality. .
2. Focus on encouraging appropriate behavior
Instead of focusing your attention on preventing children from behaving inappropriately, take the opposite approach. This is; do your best to get them to behave appropriately This simple change of mindset will help you a lot to be consistent when developing respectful parenting.
3. Highlight your progress
When you see that your son or daughter is taking steps in the right direction, it is important that you let him or her know that he or she is doing well, and that you do it right away, without waiting too long. That way it will be easier for you link that satisfying feeling with the behavior you just performed
4. Teach him the importance of repairing the damage
Another aspect of respectful parenting is that it does not limit itself to putting an end to bad behavior through punishment, but rather adopts a much more constructive perspective in which everyone wins.
If a child does something wrong, the logic to adopt is to repair the damage caused to other people In this way, not only are others compensated, but the child is offered a way to redeem himself that makes him feel good about himself, instead of adopting the role of passive recipient of a penalty: he participates in the solution.
This is another often overlooked aspect of respectful parenting. Spending time together is not only essential to establish an emotional bond with everything it entails ; Furthermore, it is important so that the moments in which you implement rules are not seen by the minor as the only meaningful interactions you have with him, which favors a hostile climate and rejection of those rules of behavior.
6. Example
On the other hand, lead by example in any way you can, because the importance of rules is expressed through actions, not just words. Besides, If he believes that a rule is only imposed on him, the child will feel that he is suffering an injustice with which it may be that he rejects almost all norms in general.
In those things in which you do not comply with the same rules as the little one due to the age difference (for example, regarding going out on the street without anyone else), you must make sure that he understands this.
Professional assistance for parents
On many occasions, it is necessary to have the help of professionals to establish appropriate respectful parenting dynamics: it is not always easy to find the balance between setting rules and leaving freedom for them to have fun and develop their own autonomy. That’s why, Many psychologists are trained to help families in this aspect both through counseling or therapy for parents and through child and adolescent therapy.
In the Psicode Institute of Psychology, a psychological assistance center located in Madrid, we have offered this type of services for more than a decade. You can count on us both in person and through online therapy. You will find more information about our center on this page.
