09294000000
Everyday we come across adults who are unable to make decisions or are suffering from indecisiveness in matters of major concern. In worst case scenarios, they make decisions that are self destructive, creating more troubles than solving them. As mentioned by Sophocles, “Men of ill judgment ignore the good that lies within their hands, till they have lost it.”!
As parents we don’t want our kids to grow up into adults with a bad judgment and spoil their bright future because of it. Though nobody is born with good decision making skills but you can always learn them. The role of a parent in facilitating good judgment in kids is to provide them an environment where they can make good decisions and feel great about it. Read on to discover what all you can do to make this happen!
Practice Is Must For Perfection
Your kid will attain perfection in decision making only when you allow him to practice. Begin this even before your kid is ready to speak and you will have no issues later. Let your baby decide for herself whether she wants to pair checked pants with a floral paired top layered with starred print tee. You shouldn't be bothered about comments from other parents about your parenting skills, you are working for them!
Trending : 5 Steps to Help Your Child Develop Self Control
Clarify Areas Of Control
Be clear about the areas where you allow your kid to makes decisions himself and where as a parent you will exert control over his decisions. For example if your little one is obsessed over an outfit maybe a superman or batman tee and wants to repeat it every day of the week, you allow him this choice for some time and make him change later when the family has to go out. For older kids this will change to maybe he is allowed to go the movies with his friends but you decide when he has to be back home for dinner with family!
Reflecting With Her
A very important part of learning good decision making is knowing how to reflect on one’s decisions. Many adults never learn good decision making skills because they are unable to find room for reflection. You have to help your kid reflect on her decisions and thus facilitate this little process for her. For example if she is choosing extra curricular activities after school, help her reflect on how much she can manage in a day and adding more activities will pressure her up!
Also read : How Your Newborn Grows: Infant Development
Model Decision Making
Think aloud while you are making decisions. This will help when your baby is very small and is not yet capable of making decisions on his own. Show him how you are making decisions for the family. For example, tell him it is cold and you feel that you should wear gloves while playing in snow to not fall ill. Or maybe tell him that since many kids don’t have access to basic necessities, you feel that the family should spare some money to buy them supplies. When they see how you make decisions, they will gradually learn the trick.
Expect And Accept Bad Decisions
Kids are just learning the skill of making decisions and they are bound to make mistakes. In this situation your role as a parent should be to firstly resist your urge to say, “I told you so” and then talk more on logic. Reflect with them how things could have been different had they made different choices. When kids grow up into teens, they will be making more decisions and have higher possibility of creating a mess. Instead of hurting them, be mindful and allow them to learn from their mistakes!
Try these tricks and help your kids move towards an adulthood armed with great decision making skills. Your kids will benefit from this training so early even when they can’t exercise much control. They are learning and will demonstrate it when the time comes!
