30 Days to Becoming a Better Parent Day 28: Teaching Perseverance

Having your children know how to stick to the things that they start is one of the most important things that you can teach as a parent. The skills that you teach them regarding this will be ones that will continue to show up as your children get older and older. Hopefully, once your child reaches adulthood they are ready to be able to take the world on with full force and understand what they must do to be able to survive in a challenging world.

So how can you do this as a parent? Here are a few thoughts on things you can do to help your child:

Applaud Efforts
Notice and applaud things that your child does that shows that they are striving toward a goal. Even if they do not succeed, heep encouraging and helping them to see that the goal is possible. You may even need to roll up your own sleeves to lend a hand (if asked – don’t rescue them completely as this may have the opposite effect).

Honest Feedback
Give your child honest feedback on how they are doing as they strive to meet the goal or task at hand. If they need to work on an area let them know. Do not tear them down, but build them up and let them know that you are behind them in what they are trying to achieve. Communicating though is key, so that they know that they are not alone and that they do have support if they choose to ask.

Identify and work past obstacles
Sometimes our children need some assistance in seeing the boulders in the path ahead. Make sure to ask them if they want advice before you give it and be wary of those children that always come to you for your advice. With these children, the better question may be, how do you think you can overcome this obstacle? By doing this you are continuing to challenge them and asking them to be creative with their solutions and not to merely rely on others for answers.

Being able to bounce back
The ultimate goal as I stated earlier is to have children who can get back up when they stumble or fall. We all want our kids to be successful and to be able to achieve all that they wish for in life, but we also know that no one is able to achieve everything without some failures along the way. The important thing is that our children do not give up, but instead they have the fortitude to stand back up, brush off their ego and move forward again.