Teaching a good lifestyle to your children as parents

Teaching a good lifestyle for your children as parents

         Photo by Xavier Mouton Photographie on Unsplash  

Do you think teaching a good lifestyle to your child is a must as parents? According to me, it is a part of parents’ duty to teach a good lifestyle as they grow. In fact, by birth children do not know how to lead a healthy lifestyle and the reason behind it too. It is in our hands to train the minds of young children by saying the pros and cons of our lifestyle. At present, the generation is too sensitive, as we counsel, they get annoyed aggressive manner. My suggestion to the parent is to adopt mature behaviour, at any point don’t get aggressive on witnessing your child’s negative behaviour or bad lifestyle as it worsens their behaviour. You must pleasantly keep on counselling till it reaches their head but ensure children listen in a happy mood and don’t get frustrated. Let’s see a few tips to teach a good lifestyle:

 A daily routine is something that we do in a daily basis from birth till the end of our life to sustain a healthy lifestyle. Most parents face difficulties during the time of daily tasks as kids feel monotonous by doing the same actions, even conflicts arise. 

What do you think is our children’s daily task? The most basic daily routines are morning routine where they get ready for school, night routine, before bedtime. For very young children around 3 to 5 years, categorize them as having morning and night routine with 5 simple tasks like, waking up, brushing, having milk, bathing and going to school.

For older kids, categorize a bit more elaborately to include hobbies, classes and homework time.

A staple food is dominant which is grown in our surroundings. It varies from one place to another place. I earlier days there were no options the only food was our staple food grown in our area. The current situation is we get packaged food from across the globe. For example, we see apples in the fruit shop which are grown in our country as well as in other country. It is always safe to buy apples which are grown in our country as it contains less amount of chemicals and reaches buyers quickly. The other country’s apples may taste good but it contains chemicals for preservation purpose. An apple is a common fruit that we start giving from six-month - old. Stick to home-grown fresh food.

A stubborn child behaves the way the child wants, not willing to listen to anyone or be reasonable. It is quite natural for a child to be adamant but set a limit to it. For instance, when you prepare lunch with what you have at home, a child should accept and eat, not demand what is not at home is a common issue occurring in every home. Your child should understand that, as a mother, you will give preference to your child’s likes and dislikes to satisfy their needs. Where do you think the child is adamant? According to me, brushing their teeth twice, demanding their food menu, studying for long hours, or selecting of dress are some typical examples that create an awful environment in most homes. 

Your children may have favourite personalities in their minds, either your family members or non-family members. For instance, my child studies class 2 in a private school whose role model is her grandfather, a perfect gentleman. She says that, as an individual, I want to become like my grandfather. I would request the viewers to use our leaders and favourite personalities during the time of counselling your child. I believe that it does wonders for your children in the  future. 

Children do not know their limits until they reach a certain age and understand the value of good lifestyle. It is not easy making the kids understand the word LIMITS, which is essential for a good lifestyle. For example, almost every girl’s favourite toy is a kitchen set which is available in different materials such as plastic, iron, silver or wooden material. Whenever your child goes out to malls or roadside shops, she pesters the parents and buys despite having so much at home. Make the children understand there is no use in buying the same things to fulfill their instant desires. 

There is extensive debate about whether structure and discipline are good or whether creativity and free play are required. I have raised in the old - fashioned method, where structure and discipline were adopted for our daily routine, we bought new clothes only during festivals or birthdays, and birthday gifts were given only during birthdays. I feel this has helped me realize the value of money, and money management, adopt a minimalistic concept which is an overrated concept these days.

Teaching a good lifestyle has the following benefits

1. Children understand the importance of money management
2. Adopt healthy sleep, eating and exercise habits due to their fixed routine
3. Indirectly taught minimalism concept, which means don’t own excess of anything or buy in excess.
4. Respect and obey elders, as they have more wisdom and as a result develop as mentally strong individuals with good family values
5. Adapt to the environment, as they are not always indulged to buy what they want

Teaching a good lifestyle helps develop the following values

1. Be respectful
2. Be a confident individual
3. Be responsible and accountable
4. Be kind and caring
5. Adaptive

Some advantages of being Firm parents is to develop a good lifestyle are 

1. Children get used to hearing “NO” from a young age, which means not all their wants are fulfilled.
2. Children become more thoughtful and helpful as they know parents don’t sugar-coat, rather speak with clarity
3. Children are having more gratitude towards their parents
4. Develop a good understanding of healthy eating habits and junk food damages
5. Experience more security feeling due to firmness