Raising kids is not a task that can be dragged along effortlessly because there are many things kids want from their parents. It is a matter that must be handled with care and delicacy. Parents must have proper knowledge of what is expected of them from their children.
Your kids’ basic needs being not fulfilled lead to a dysfunctional family, and eventually, lead to toxicity and cracks in the bonds of your family members. If you are a parent and wish to know the things kids want from you, then below are all the basic requirements and expectations your kids have of you.
Love
The foremost need: Love. You cannot expect your house to be a healthy environment if you don’t love your kids enough. They expect love, and they deserve love. No matter how many ‘things’ you give them, they will end up feeling empty if love is not there.
Many parents think that most of the things kids want or expect from them are flashy toys and expensive devices. Surely, kids of a young age do have an interest in those things and it is totally okay to give them that at the right times. But when we love with ‘things’, we raise entitled kids who have low capacities of experiencing lasting joy.
Also Read: Why Ignoring the Emotional Needs of a Child Can Be Traumatic?
Expression
You can’t simply complain if you don’t express your love properly to your kids. What good is it to love someone if you don’t let them know that you do? One of the vital things kids want from their parents is that they let them know that they love them. Believe it or not, kids notice minor details too, hence you can express your love by the following ways:
- Simply saying “I love you” to them.
- Making their favorite foods and telling them ‘Hey! I made your favorite food’
- Buying their favorite things for them in an appropriate amount.
- Tucking them in bed and reading them bedtime stories
- Physical affection; Cuddling them or hugging them
- Taking them outside for fun
- Spending quality time with them
Also Read: Fun Things To Do With Toddlers
Faith
Our belief in our kids ultimately determines their belief in themselves. When your children feel yourself being engulfed by the fear or anxiety of any new thing they are about to do, our feelings subtly deliver them the message that we don’t believe in them. This subtle message undermines our child and makes them either lose faith in themselves or, turn against the controlling nature of our fear.
One of the things kids want from you is that you have faith in them. You must have faith in your children and give them the rope that they need to climb up the hill of life and overcome the struggles with strength.
Also Read: Authoritative Parenting Style – Is It Beneficial In The Modern Era?
Patience
Your kids need your patience, not your pressure.
Each child’s development is a unique course, and you must let them grow at their own pace. Putting them under pressure will only lead them to fluster and make things worse. It kills their spirit. You really do not want to raise children that only feel loved when they are performing. They are human beings.
Also Read: How To Be A Good Mom?
Acceptance
Your kids want nothing more than for you to accept them for who they are. Whether it be related to their sexuality, their gender, their body, mental illness, or literally anything that isn’t their fault and is attached to them. No matter how much progress is happening in the world, there will always be people who try to drag your kids down and ridicule them for being who they are.
And if they don’t get acceptance from their own parents, how will they find the strength in fighting the outside malignance? So you must know that your acceptance is one of the greatest things kids want from you.
Also Read: How To Keep Your Child Safe From Sexual Abuse?
The right advice
As your kids’ guardian, it is only natural from them to seek counsel from you. You are an adult and you should always have the appropriate guidance to give to your kids when they are in trouble. For that, you must always keep yourself educated about the problems children face.
Also Read: How To Teach Your Kids About Good and Bad Touch?
Respect
You have to give your kids the respect that every human being deserves. It is through the respect that you give them; that they learn to respect themselves and you. If you disrespect your child and ridicule them, they will learn to have the same response towards life and to you too.
Importance to their opinions
This is one of the things kids want and deserve. Their opinion must be valued when it comes to the decisions of your household, because they are members of it too. Respecting their opinion will always help them have confidence in themselves and respect your opinions too.
Also Read: What To Teach a 5 Year Old Kid?
No controlling behavior
Controlling your child’s actions, and trying to manipulate their feelings is abusive. It will mentally hurt them, and they will eventually lose who they are. It will make them feel empty and will make them have an incredible amount of insecurities in the future.
Let them grow on their own. Let them think, and to act on the decisions that are supposed to be taken by them. It’s not their responsibility to make up for the things you are missing in your life. When we rob our children of their pain and we do not allow them the possibility of failure, then we also rob them of their pursuit of happiness.
Also Read: Fun Things To Do With Toddlers
Always keeping a calm voice
Yelling at children never helps them learn a thing or two. Instead, it provokes serious anxiety in them, and leaves them prone to many mental illnesses. Yelling at your children makes them grow scared of you, not close to you.
So you must know that one of the things kids want is that you address them with a calm, affectionate voice.
Also Read: How Does It Affect a Child Mentally If Parents Are Fighting All The Time?
Appreciation for their good work
Research has proved that kids learn more when they are appreciated. It makes them have confidence in themselves. Appreciation, being a positive emotion, leads to greater levels of other positive emotions. One of the important things kids expect from you is an appreciation for their good work.
They want to make you proud; Let them know that they did.
You’re good to go!
Having a basic knowledge of what kids expect from you, can help you to build your home a safe haven for your children. Knowing all of the things that kids want as listed above, you can get to understand them better and build a healthier relationship with them.