Building the Bond with your Children
Throughout the different age groups that your children will go through, all of them are crucial when forming the special bond that gets them to appreciate family time. Whether it begins as a young child and story time or as a teenager doing sports or shopping together, moments spent together between parent and child goes towards building a better relationship. Of course, along with every age group that the child goes through, there will be a change of interests in what gets the child to respond in a positive way. For youngsters and toddlers, the ultimate way to spend time together is as simple as playing or reading together to form a bond. When it comes to the older children and teenagers that have began gaining friends and drifting away, however, keeping the bond strong is a bit tougher than usual. Interests dramatically change and it could be considered among the children to be “embarrassing” being seen with a parent. There are ways to build a strong enough bond, however, that will keep moments like this from happening. Simple tips that keep you from embarrassing your children and keep them wanting to spend time with you. First of all, as seen in many television shows, movies, etc., a child wants a parent, not a best friend. It is crucial to understand that while you want to be close to your children, you’re not there to hang out with them at any given chance and you’re certainly not obligated to hang around while their friends are around. Sure, there will still be plenty of time to spend with your child, but this is where space is needed and the child should be around only their friends. Don’t push forward into every single aspect of your children’s lives. While it is important to know who their friends are and who they are associated with, it’s not necessary to try and get caught up with every single thing that is happening within your children’s (and their friends) lives. Pushing for answers when they are not important to you will push your child away and remember, you raised your child and they’ll know to tell you if anything is wrong with someone they’re hanging around. Schedule some time with your children before hand so that they can still go about their own personal business, but they understand that certain time will be spent with the family to continue that important relationship. Parents that become completely hands-off as children get older tend to lose that kind of bond and a “Hi/Bye” relationship becomes the replacement. While you’re not going to be every aspect of your children’s world, it is important to remain some kind of aspect. As children grow, bonds become increasingly difficult to make and keep. Start young and allow the bond to stay strong, it could be a very crucial factor in your children’s lives as they grow older and become parents themselves. Parenting behaviors are usually taught (negatively and positively) from something the parental before them did or didn’t do.