Friday's List for Late-in-Life Moms

10 Ways to Encourage Self-Reliant Behavior

Part 1 (1-5)

1. Help your child develop cofidence. When approaching new tasks, your child needs to feel a sense of confidence. The praise you offer consistently, specifically, and honestly will help your child begin new efforts with a sense of confidence.
2. Present your child with opportunities. He is continuing to develop new capabilities, better judgment, and increased skills that can be adapted and applied in a variety of settings.
3. Admit that you make mistakes. If your child only sees you as "perfect," she may feel she can't ever be like that. Your child wants to be like you. Your are the most important role model. Let your child see the authentic you.
4. Have realistic expectations. A child will not make the bed perfectly the first time. He will need assistance and understanding before the bed looks neat. He may need additional time to gather his soccer gear before the first practice. Adjust your expectations to fit your child.
5. Teach your child the value of learning. Build rewards into a task. For example, a child who clips food coupons from the newspaper and organizes them might earn a percentage of the mony saved.

~Mary Manz Simon

Condensed from "The Year-Round Parent"

From Lists to Live By: The Third Collection