While there is no doubt that your child needs your guidance and support, they may not necessarily need handholding at every step. You have to let go of the control or worries and encourage them to become self-sufficient. When they become self-reliant, it will not only reduce your parenting load but also teach them to handle situations independently. Self-sufficiency is an essential life skill that children must pick from an early age.
Here are a few ways to raise self-sufficient children:
- Assign Them Chores
You can start by giving age-appropriate tasks to your children to help them develop confidence in doing things independently. For example, you can ask them to organise their toys and books, set the table for meals, run an errand to the grocery or medical store, babysit a younger sibling, water the plants, etc.
- Show Them How it is Done
If there is a particular way of doing things in your house, let the child observe you doing it. This will give them an idea about how they can also execute the task without depending on you to do it correctly.
- Do Some Preparation
Your child may need little support if have given them some task. For example, if they have to water the plant, they may not be strong or old enough to lift a bucket of water. What you can do is place this bucket of water near the plants beforehand so that they can do the rest of the work easily without any further help.
- Let Them Make Decisions
Let’s say, you have asked your child to pick up a dress from the cupboard to wear on a festive occasion. Let them choose what they want to wear. If you criticise them for their choice, they may lose confidence in their ability to make a decision. Even if you don’t appreciate their choice, make them aware of it gently, give a reason why you think so and how they can do better next time.
- Give Them Power
When you give responsibility to your children, you should also entrust them with some amount of power. For example, if your teen child is babysitting the younger sibling, they should have the right to refuse an unwarranted request from the younger one.
- Let Them Make Mistakes
You are not perfect and you shouldn’t expect your children to be either. Mistakes are the best way to learn life lessons and you should not scold or get angry when your child makes them. Instead, you should sit with them and help them figure out what went wrong, what they learnt from it and what they can do to prevent it from happening again.
- Let Them Pitch in When Maid is on Leave
If your maid doesn’t turn up someday, you should ask your children to step in. They can do the cleaning, mopping, washing dishes or cooking. This will train them in housework and make them realise that over-dependency on someone to finish chores is not a good thing.
Hope you found these tips valuable.
