subject: Five Ways To Raise Healthy And Happy Children [print this page] Raising healthy and happy kids in todays world may seem like a tall order, but the truth is, it can be done! You can still give them a happy childhood as long as you tailor-fit your parenting to their personalities while ensuring that all of them grow up with good values. Of course, it helps if you establish a few solid guidelines that will serve as the core of your parenting methods. Below are some suggestions:
1.Monitor your childs online activity. There a lot of things that kids can see online, and sometimes thats a good thing. They have access to great information portals like Wikipedia, as well as entertaining things like cartoons and games. These things can all contribute to a happy childhood, but only if you make sure that these ARE the things your child is accessing online. You dont have to loom over their shoulder the whole time theyre online, but you can pop in from time to time to see what theyre doing, or use a parent-friendly internet filter to help prevent your child from accessing the wrong content.
2.Encourage play! Playing outdoors for at least 20 minutes every day can help your child become healthy and happy, but thats often easy to forget when there are more interesting and less tiring activities available to them through gaming consoles and the computer. You must remind them that playing outdoors (or even indoors) is good for them, and that they can have just as much fun playing with their friends or with you as they would playing video games!
3.Be involved. You should know whats going on in your childs life at home AND at school. You dont have to meddle in every little event in your childs life, but it helps to know if theyre getting bullied or not, and if theyre one of the nicest kids in their class. Showing your support without them even having to tell you whats going on is one way of keeping your child healthy and happy.
4.Dont pressure them. While you do need to teach your child that doing well in school is a good thing, dont pressure them too much. Some children end up with self-esteem issues when you keep imposing high standards on them, and thats a surefire way of ruining a happy childhood! Encourage them to do well, but dont scare them into thinking you wont love them any more if they dont get perfect grades.
5.Feed them healthy snacks. There are a lot of delicious snacks available to kids these days, but they arent always healthy. Many kids get addicted to snack foods that have high levels of preservatives, sugar, and salt, so you have to remember to encourage your child to eat healthier snacks like fruits and nuts. You can also do your part by learning recipes for homemade health snacks and making them yourself!
You will discover more things about your children as they grow up, which means you might have to adjust your parenting when circumstances call for it. Dont forget to take care of yourself too. You cant successfully raise healthy and happy children if you yourself are not in the best shape. Learn to relax and have fun. After all, parenting does not have to be a serious affair all the time.
