Raising confident kids... training begins at home!

I have a lovely eight year old daughter who according to her teachers is amongst the most confident kids of her school.When somebody says good remarks like this about your kid, you surely feel elated but raising a confident kid and a kid that has her opinion at a tender age is not a piece of cake. 

                                                    Image courtesy: freedigitalphotos.net

You have to be patient, at times harsh too when a kid doesn't listen to you and values her opinion more but later, when you think about it, you feel proud too that your kid is confident and not hesitant which will not make her solely dependent on other kids to make her decisions.

I seriously believe that the starting years of a child's life are crucial in giving him utmost strength and confidence which will last for lifetime . In my case, the first four years were very calm and loving both for my daughter and me. Then the tantrums started when her father  had to go abroad for four months. She would ask me to take her daily to bookshop to buy her favourite book. Time passes quickly but the thing you ahould never let go is patience and while I say this, I know that completely  never letting it go is an arduous  task.

The 6-8 age group is pivotal in the sense that kids no longer consider them as little children . They think that now they can do anything but the best thing about this age group is that they still need you for reading bedtime story, for tucking them in bed and for hugging . My daughter can now get ready for herself but still she needs me for her hairdo and I love it. Everyone of us shout or get angry at our kids at sometime but these moments go away so quickly as time passes and then kids don't need us for little things. I read somewhere that if you listen to them today, they will listen to you  tomorrow and that is 100 % accurate. We as parents have to be patient today in order to let our kids grow as patient and confident  individuals tomorrow.

Allowing kids as small as 5 years to choose their own bed sheet or wall colour also instills in them the confidence that they can take decisions. One thing more which gives sheer confidence is parents' support. If a kid knows that his parents would listen to him and support no matter what, then he would never be afraid of others.