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Parenting is quite a phenomenal phase of life that brings out the best in you. A parent-child relationship is so unique and has so many dynamics that no handbook or guide can ever claim to give you a complete summary of what the journey will be. This is because every child is unique, and what can work for some kids may fail phenomenally for others.
It’s a complete trial-and-error game that you can ace only when you understand your child. A deep understanding is a must for a healthy parent-child relationship. There is an unexplainable bond of love between parents and children, which can be a strong foundation for their future growth and excellence if you nurture them during their early years.
Let’s see how this works.
1. Benefits of a Positive Parent-Child Relationship
1.1. Social and Emotional Well-Being
It is a widespread fact that young children depend most on their parents; hence for a healthy parent-child relationship, small kids must experience a secure attachment 1with the parent and get nurtured with affectionate touches and soothing words.
When parents are more responsive and sensitive towards their child’s needs, it establishes a sense of security.
This makes them lesser prone to behavioural problems, and they have a higher probability of succeeding in all aspects of life. It boosts their mental well-being and helps them excel in academics. Parent involvement is also required for the augmentation of linguistic and cognitive skills.2
Also, it is at the core of their childhood values that they understand what a family is like and become capable of handling their future relationships.
1.2. Boosts Self-Confidence
When parents are more responsive to their kids and are more involved in their day-to-day lives, such children develop higher self-esteem and become more capable of exploring the world because they know that they have supportive parents if things go wrong.
When parents show a keen interest in their children’s academics and curriculum, they reciprocate with the same enthusiasm and passion.
A secure relationship with the parents ensures better learning and adaptive skills in the child. Such children are more strong and irrepressible. They can make their own decisions, which is very important to have a strong personality.
1.3. Can Manage Stress
Young children are quick learners, and they easily grasp what they observe right from early childhood.
Instead of obeying what you instruct, they imitate what you display.
If adults show a trait of lashing out and losing their cool in difficult or testing situations and easily spank their kids at the smallest of misbehaviour, then that is what they take in as a primary response to anger and frustration.
So if we need to make our kids a better version of ourselves, then we must show them our best selves. If we behave more rationally with our kids during moments of heat, then the same trait of rational thinking and stress management is imbibed in our kids right from childhood.
Such kids are also good at problem-solving and can have a good hold on their emotions.
2. Steps Towards a Healthy Parent-Child Relationship
Here are 7 steps towards a healthy parent-child relationship:
2.1. Nurturing With Love
Love and Compassion are the most vital emotions a person needs to manifest in all stages of life. And it is only at home that a child learns what these terms mean.
Loving parents beget loving children. Kids who have positive relationships with their parents can grow into mature and emotionally strong adults.
No matter their age, we need to keep telling our children how much they are loved and cherished. Even during difficult situations, when they are testing your patience, a simple ‘I love you’ can calm them down.
Show them that you love them unconditionally no matter what they do and build up a strong bond. Doing this will ensure strong communication with your kids, which is a long-term benefit.
2.2. Give Them Time
Most families lack communication which results in low-income family bonding and a lack of social skills.
Not spending enough time with your child affects their mental well-being by causing distress and frustration in young minds.
Such kids fail to give a legitimate performance in academics and can resort to other sources like their friends and social media to gain the attention that they never get. So spending quality time is a must to lay the foundation of a strong parent-child relationship.3
2.3. Family Rituals
The best gift for your child is your exclusive attention. Taking your kids out for a picnic or having a family ritual where you play games or watch movies together is the perfect opportunity to strengthen the parent-child relationship.
A family’s dinner table is the best place to seek opportunities for interaction. It would be best if you made it a point that all the members eat meals together.
Parents should make sure they squeeze some more time out and make a bedtime ritual where they read storybooks to their little munchkins and encourage them to let their minds wander and boost their imaginations.
Parents should at all times work to establish strong communication and strengthen their bond. Also, parent-child interactions are a sure way to know their perspective and mindsets. Because it’s right here that you tame them and mould them into wonderful personalities.
2.4. Listen to Your Kids
When you have a toddler at home, there is sure to be much blabbering from his side.
Kids tend to elaborate on even the tiniest incident. And it is natural to want some mental peace after a long day. But putting them off can hurt them and demotivate them from any communication.
Hence listen to them even if you are tired, make eye contact with them and show them everything they say or feel matters.
Strong communication between parent and child can ward off many harmful events in the future and create a healthy environment at home.
2.5. Put Consequences Above Punishments
Discipline is very important in young kids. While your little grasshopper may not want to confide in your set of rules, you must put them in a schedule.
However, breaking the rules or misbehaving is quite common in growing kids.
As ideal parents, we need to observe a parenting style that explains the consequences of misconduct and disobedience instead of punishment.
Rationalizing with children and explaining to them the reason behind your restrictions will help them learn self-discipline. While punishments can demotivate them, showing them the consequences will help them correct all restrictions.
You also have to set guidelines and put forward your expectations.
Such kids are sure to excel in academics and procure desired achievements. Too much authority or too much leniency will work against the framework of positive parenting.
2.6. Allow Them to Play Time
Increased screen time in kids is a growing concern among parents, and this problem is global. But a simple technique to tackle this problem is to encourage free play among your toddlers.
Kids have an incredible imagination. They may want to make a play car of their own using cushions and pillows or may perceive your kitchen utensils as ammunition while playing Game of Thrones.
It all turns your house upside down. But one thing we need to understand is that having active kids cannot correspond to having a spotless house. While tidiness comes in the realms of discipline, we can always ask them to clear up the place once they are done with their magical kingdom.
2.7. Inculcating Faith
Moral values should be inculcated starting from an early age.
Family ethos comes in handy for a proper upbringing and helps your teens steer clear of all the negativities of society.
When young kids are attached to their religion, it gets easier to imbibe ethical values and teach them righteousness.
You can always explain why they cannot make their little sibling cry because doing this will bring down the number of gifts God gives them. Also, you can start teaching your child the essence of tolerance and acceptance with a religious approach.
They must forgive their younger sibling just like they are forgiven by God and then by their parents. Learning to pray helps in placing their faith in a higher spirit which can help them cope with difficult situations.
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3. In The End
Parenting smart and young kids is always a challenging task.
Handling them during their mood swings and being on even terms with each kid during their conflicts asks for a load of creativity. But getting tricky when they turn sassy can help you turn the tides.
However, sometimes all of this can get on your nerves, and you can always call for a time-out to prevent outbursts and again discuss the situation after you have blown off some steam.
Shouting at your kids cannot discipline them. But being firm and assertive while also explaining them logically is a sure way to deal with your grown-up toddlers. And when it comes to your little ones who are just not keen to listen to any explanation, immense patience is the only key.
It would help if you always kept in mind that a strong parent-child relationship can get you halfway through all your parenting problems. So acknowledge your relationship with your child, giving them the highest priority because they are worth all the trouble.
A constant endeavour and understanding your child’s emotions is the only way to hone this craft.
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4. Frequently Asked Questions
4.1. Why is a positive parent-child relationship important?
A secure attachment with parents helps support a child’s cognitive, emotional and social development. It also helps children display positive social behaviour. Healthy parental involvement in their children’s daily lives helps ensure that their children can perform better socially and academically.
4.2. What does a healthy parent-child relationship look like?
The ability to help a child succeed by giving clear instructions, setting boundaries, offering opportunities for choice and negotiation, requiring age-appropriate behaviours and responses, adapting to the needs of individual learning styles, providing opportunities for self-control and staying in the present.
4.3. What are the benefits of positive family relationships?
Family relationships provide resources that can help an individual cope with stress, engage in healthier behaviours, and enhance self-esteem, leading to higher well-being.
- Simmons, Bret L., et al. “Secure attachment: Implications for hope, trust, burnout, and performance.” Journal of Organizational Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior 30.2 (2009): 233-247. ↩︎
- Mirheidari, Bahman, et al. “Improving Cognitive Impairment Classification by Generative Neural Network-Based Feature Augmentation.” INTERSPEECH. 2020. ↩︎
- Feinberg, Mark E., and Marni L. Kan. “Establishing family foundations: intervention effects on coparenting, parent/infant well-being, and parent-child relations.” Journal of Family Psychology 22.2 (2008): 253. ↩︎
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A healthy child and parent relationship is important in various aspects. For a child to be healthy and mentally stable it is important that there is a good connection between the both. Therefore the parents should focus on maintaining a healthy relationship with the children.