There’s no doubt you’re a good parent. You’re there for your child when he or she needs you; you feed them, you get them to school on time and make sure they do their homework. You do all the right things, and everything seems okay with your little one — you never know what is really going on inside their heads, though, and you never know how okay they actually are. For this reason, you have to resolve to tend to your child’s mental health just as much as you tend to their physical health. For advice on how to do this, make sure to read on.
Never make them suffer because of your problems
Children find it hard to understand and process adult problems. If you and your child’s other parent argue constantly, for instance, no matter how insignificant these little bickers may be, your child is likely to become extremely worried that something is seriously wrong between the two of you. When they worry in this way, they are likely to blame themselves for whatever is happening, and that is never good for their mental health. For this reason, you have to try and hide all of your problems, particularly if they are differences with your other half, from your child at all times. In fact, you should go one better and actually try to get rid of your problems, especially those that are personal. This could mean seeking therapy to fix an issue that plagues you mentally, or it could mean checking yourself into drug rehab to fix any problems that you may have when it comes to substance abuse. Whatever you need to do to fix your problems, no matter what scale these problems are on, you need to do so if you want to protect your child and their mental health from them.
Build their self-esteem
You need to make sure your child feels good about his or herself if you want them to grow up with a clean bill of mental health. To do this, you have to set about building their self-esteem and to do that you need to do a number of things.
One thing that you can do is show them heaps of acceptance. As soon as they start building their own little personality, you need to accept them for who they are, and you should never push them to be somebody that they aren’t. For instance, you should never try to push your little one into playing a particular sport just because you liked it or played it as a youngster when they blatantly do not like or want to play it themselves. Instead, you should let them choose their own likes and dislikes, and you should accept whatever they choose.
Teach them how to relax
No matter what you do to tend to your child’s mental health, there are still going to be times when doubt or worry creeps in, especially as they approach and begin adolescence. To prepare them for such anxiety, you have to teach them how to relax — first and foremost, this means teaching them calming breathing techniques.
Your child’s mental health is just as important as their physical health. So, don’t forget to tend to it.
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