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Home » Five Happiness Mistakes Parents Make and How to Avoid Them
10 comments
Marklar says:
Praise kids for their efforts vs innate talents! It’s interesting when I catch myself praising them for being smart and I change it to praising them by saying ” That’s a great project, you must have put a lot of time into that and concentrated to be organized to get this done.” Yes, it is more wordy but if I follow the advise, I am relaxed because I know I am doing it correctly.
Anytime they can learn something valuable from the experience, let them stumble, even if it is difficult for them. Kids learn how to struggle effectively, how to cope with difficult emotions and challenge, etc. But support them through the process, emotion coaching when you can, and helping tease out the lessons. Lots of kids will need help coming up with better strategies, so that they don’t make the same mistakes repeatedly.
steve says:
I’ve found that ignoring my kids really helps them. Seriously! Their boredom forces them to find creative games, pull the old interesting game off the shelf, really explore their surroundings.
I have heard these things before, but you put them together in such an eloquent, succinct way. Very helpful! I agree that fair division of labor is definitely linked to sexual frequency.
Emma says:
As a grandparent, raising my three and watching my kids raise their kids, I have seen many variations on child-raising! Your comments on happiness are super. I especially agree that a good sex life leads to better communication between parents and happiness for their children. Lack of it leads to tension that the kids can read, even if they don’t understand why. I love your emails and advice.
Praise kids for their efforts vs innate talents! It’s interesting when I catch myself praising them for being smart and I change it to praising them by saying ” That’s a great project, you must have put a lot of time into that and concentrated to be organized to get this done.” Yes, it is more wordy but if I follow the advise, I am relaxed because I know I am doing it correctly.
Yes! I know that it can be a lot more effort at first, but it does make such a big difference!
Let children fall down once a while. How often is this once a while, for 8 year old or 12 year old?
Anytime they can learn something valuable from the experience, let them stumble, even if it is difficult for them. Kids learn how to struggle effectively, how to cope with difficult emotions and challenge, etc. But support them through the process, emotion coaching when you can, and helping tease out the lessons. Lots of kids will need help coming up with better strategies, so that they don’t make the same mistakes repeatedly.
I’ve found that ignoring my kids really helps them. Seriously! Their boredom forces them to find creative games, pull the old interesting game off the shelf, really explore their surroundings.
Chuckle.
I have heard these things before, but you put them together in such an eloquent, succinct way. Very helpful! I agree that fair division of labor is definitely linked to sexual frequency.
As a grandparent, raising my three and watching my kids raise their kids, I have seen many variations on child-raising! Your comments on happiness are super. I especially agree that a good sex life leads to better communication between parents and happiness for their children. Lack of it leads to tension that the kids can read, even if they don’t understand why. I love your emails and advice.
Thanks for this nice comment!