Raising Independent Children

"Don't fight your child's battles," you have heard this before. But it is much harder than it sounds. Many parents try to do more than fight the battles they try and control everything! They also put their child through what they would have wished to go through themselves. Lessons, sports, or academic success overtake all the other things in this world, regardless of the child's natural interests and their individual temperament. Look at twins, even though they might have the same parents and genes, they act different and have different preferences from day one.

You can break the cycle with your baby and have them grow to reach their potential on their own terms, with of course your guidance along the way instead of control. This way there is less anger, depression, and anxiety in your household.

Here are a few ideas to use from time to time:

• Try asking your child about what they would like to do
• Ask your child how they feel about things
• Pick up on where their passion really is by what they like
• Do not interject your viewpoint constantly which can put pressure on children
• Complement your child when they have an idea of their own
• Go with it even if you know it won't work
• Learn together
• Try to let your child work problems or differences out with other children to build up communication skills
• Wait for the child to ask your opinion
• Watch movies and read books together and get your child's opinion on what happened, this will open up further discussion
• Have fun as a family and set one night a week for game night, movie night, or another activity you can all do together