How to Give Your Children Room to Grow

Author: Austin Stanfel

Many parents tend to smother their children, especially new parents. You try to shield them from the ‘cruel world’ and don’t realize that you are doing more harm than good. At times, being there for your children is best, but at other times, taking a more hands-off approach is more optimal. The goal is to nurture your children into independent adults—individuals that are more than capable of standing on their own two feet. Also, they get to learn ways to solve problems themselves and rationalize their feelings on their own. As a matter of fact, there are countless benefits that your children would gain if you adopt a more tolerant attitude. Now, I am not saying that you should be neglectful, that is never the answer. Instead, as a parent, you should be in the background, but ready to address any issue if it is going out of hand. With that being said, what are the methods that you can implement to foster more independent thinking for your child? It’s actually pretty simple. Free-play. Provide them with the opportunity to explore and discover, and you will see how quickly they grow into capable men and women of the future. In this article, the steps that you can take to make this dream a reality are outlined below.

1. Find trustworthy parks

Parks provide an excellent opportunity to foster growth and development in your child. They learn and improve upon many physical and mental skills through play, especially with their friends. There, they will learn many social skills, such as excellent communication and listening skills, empathy, and problem-solving skills. The cognitive areas will grow and develop, making them better able to tackle tasks that require good cognition. To make sure that your child is getting the most out of this, it is important that you leave them to play. There’s no need to worry if it’s safe for them because you have chosen a park that is in a safe neighborhood and also has many safety measures in place. Therefore, all you have to do is sit down, relax on a nice bench, and observe from afar. Only get involved if you see things are getting out of hand.

2. Don’t dumb down everything

Your children are brilliant, so there is no need for you to dumb down everything for them. Information is vital to make them more prepared for the world. In addition, when you just trivialize things for them, it will be damaging and not helpful. To survive in this world, teach them what they need to know, without overburdening them with unnecessary, dark, and adult information. Speak to them in an appropriate manner and don’t coddle them with baby talk. We are trying to make them into sensible and dutiful adults in the future, not being naive and dependent.

Learning how to stop hovering over your child may take a while. However, it is good that you have begun the process. Children need to be provided with a safe environment to learn, play, and grow. But do not take the word ‘safe’ to the extreme. By using trustworthy parks or speaking to them more maturely, your children will be able to grow into independent adults in the future.