Preparing Your Child for a Bright Future

As a parent, it’s only natural that you want your child to lead a happy, fruitful, prosperous and fulfilling life. With the world as it is today, it can be tough to prepare them in an effective way. Social media usage can lead to low self esteem, friendship groups may be detrimental to mental health, and the busy lives that we lead can result in fewer instances of quality family time. It doesn’t matter whether your child is three or thirteen, it’s never too late to think about their future and to start preparing them for adulthood. It is challenging to be a parent at the best of times, but you must keep your child at the center of everything you do. By having your little cherub as your motivation, every decision you make will be well meaning and consider their well being.

The definition of a ‘bright future’ may vary between parent and child. You may want to see your darling at university, gaining a good degree, working in a decent job, getting married and raising their own family. Your child, on the other hand, may be keen to travel and might want to lead a more spontaneous and less sure footed lifestyle. This may fill you with dread but being a supportive parent may require you to forego the stability that you yearn for at least for a little while. There is a balance to strike between being supportive and being pushy. This is a balance you need to find. To empower your child to secure a bright future, you need to get rid of the generic parenting book and concentrate on your unique family situation. Take a look at this guide to help you prepare your child for a vibrant future.

Buy In The Best Neighborhood

While you might be happy in your condo, it might be time to consider your living arrangements. Living in the best neighborhood that you can afford will allow you to access better schools meaning a better education for your child. You will also be living in an area that has lower crime rates, more beautiful surroundings and more worthwhile career opportunities. It can be a challenge to become socially mobile and it can be tough to break a familial cycle of making do. Be the change that you want to happen and move to that safer and more prosperous neighborhood. Venture outside of your comfort zone to a street where cello lessons are the pastime of choice for kids rather than lingering on street corners.

Discipline

While you should not be that parent that reaches for a belt and is a tyrant under any circumstances, discipline is crucial to teaching your child how to become a responsible adult. Make sure that you set clear boundaries from the moment your offspring can walk. Have consequences for poor behavior, while at the same time being full of positive praise for good actions and deeds. ‘Spotting them do good’ is a motto used by many teachers and can be used well within the home. If your child chooses to tidy their room off their own back or offers to make you dinner, make sure you praise them for it. They are showing generosity, kindness and thoughtfulness; key traits that will help them to attain a bright future.

There is nothing wrong with telling your children to do chores. This doesn’t mean having a live-in child labor force, but by getting them to hoover once a week, wash the car and mow the lawn, you are teaching them the value of pitching in for a common purpose. Lead by example and have a beautiful, clean and tidy home giving them a pleasant environment in which to grow and thrive.

If your child thrives on discipline – and many do – and he is keen to go into the armed services, a military school for boys could be ideal. A boarding school will enable them to receive a high quality academic education as well as encouraging athletic endeavors and extra curricular pursuits. A structured environment will also help your child to feel safe and secure and allow them to forge friendships that have every chance of lasting a lifetime. Empowering them to move away from home may sound scary, but it can be beneficial to a large number of children who thrive in a safe and structured educational environment.

Quality Family Time

Forget about allowing your child to spend hours on their Xbox playing violent video games with other players online from across the globe. A child that becomes addicted to video games misses out on social activities and the outdoors. To combat this, tap into your child’s innate need to be noticed and valued. Think about setting aside regular time each week that you will spend together as a family and timetable activities. Concentrate on getting out of the house and exploring the environment close to you. Head to the park for a game of soccer, think about heading to a theme park, go for a hike up a local hill or head to the river for some fishing. While these sound like activities out of a 1950s children’s novel, they hold great value in today’s fast paced and well connected society.

Family time means that you stay connected to your children and give them the confidence to confide in you as and when they need to. Be open and honest with your child and let them know that you are always there for them. You don’t want to be their best friend but you also don’t want to be a stranger. Being aloof and not giving your child the attention that they crave from their parents will result in them relying on social media, video games and more unsavory activities.

Give Them A ‘Have A Go’ Attitude

Many children in the twenty first century grow up with a lack of confidence. This could be because of peer pressure, the wrong school environment, or a feeling of inadequacy when it comes to trying new things. To combat this, you need to foster a ‘have a go’ attitude within your little darling and lead by example. Make it clear that it is ok to make mistakes. Making mistakes should be seen as a life lesson and something to learn from. Tell your children stories of when you have made mistakes, learnt from them and thrived.

Too many children believe that they are poor at maths or reading or science because they get things wrong in class. However, by showing them how they can learn from this mistake, they will not get the same problem wrong again. Also show them through experiences that learning is based on mistakes. Life would be boring if we got everything right all the time and that mistakes are a vital part of becoming more adept, confident and proficient in life.

As a responsible parent, you want your child to thrive into adulthood. To foster a quiet confidence but not arrogance, you need to show a humility that your child can learn from. Preparing your child for a bright future means empowering them with opportunities to learn and experience new things, giving them the best foundation from an early stage in life and by helping them to be open and talk to you about their worries, fears and concerns. By being the rock that they can always cling onto, you will be their perfect springboard to help them forge their own bright future.