Our family friends are left amazed when my little girl runs to me with stars in her eyes and a smile just as bright as the 30 light bulbs chandelier hanging from my living room, as she asks me in an excited voice –“Mommy! Is it Bedtime yet? Her head droops to one side along with cute pouts and exaggerated sighs as I tell her there’s still time. As I look at the quizzical expressions on the faces of my friends, I hear them complaining about how difficult it is to convince their kids to sleep on time and how smartly they negotiate and keep postponing their bed time. I feel all parents across the globe can relate to the struggle of enforcing bedtime in kids and therefore I decided to share some of my secrets on to how you can make bedtime really special and something your child looks forward to each day. Make Bedtime a Fun Ritual. Fun – perhaps is the most Undervalued, Underplayed, Under-estimated a word there is I feel, which in my opinion, is in fact actually the ‘Key’ to unlocking your kid’s mind and their hidden potential. Growing up, I remember how much we treasured Naanis’s bedtime stories, sneaking in first, before all other cousins, to get the chance to sleep right next to her, while she narrated tales of kings and queens, gods and goddesses and sometimes strange animals that spoke like us. Each story ended with a moral and had such a ‘feel–good’ moment attached to it! Do not underestimate the power of these moral stories and chit-chat sessions that act as corner stones in the character building process of our little humans. Set bedtime to an hour before the sleeping time, and make this time to really ‘Be there’ with your child without any distractions of a phone or television set. Watching stories and encouraging them to tell their favourite story cuddled up, is not only going to create childhood memories they’ll cherish for life, but also boost their self-confidence and creativityas you laugh at their funny stories and give them genuine compliments. The foundation you lay and the bond you create with your child during this time will be un– shakeable and so strong that reaching out to them in their most rebellious and challenging ‘Teen–Years’ would become a breeze. Choose your words with utmost care Parents are like Gods for their children. By this I don’t mean the kids revere and worship us, but they believe you when they hear you say how “lazy” or “slow they are” or when they hear you talking casually to your friends on “how your child doesn’t talk much”, “doesn’t make friends easily enough”, “isn’t confident enough” or “doesn’t eat enough”, so on and so forth.Kids perceive themselves the way they hear their parents speak of them and begin to exhibit similar behavior patterns in accordance to those very beliefs. Positive reinforcement – a bit of appreciation would stand a much better chance and something I can vouch for myself, to get more positive actions and good behavior out of your kids, as compared to a negative feedback. For example, acknowledging their contribution and thanking them for their help when they did something to help around the house, letting them know how much you appreciated the effort they put in their new assignment or how impressed were you with their originality and creativity with which they finished a school assignment, gives them an intrinsic motivation to do more of the same, just as well, or even better next time! Choose your words with utmost care in the presence of your kids as YOUR words become their INNER VOICE as they grow up. Make sure your words build them up from within and not build them down, as they prepare to face life’s ups and downs. Make most of the Magical time There is something magical about the time just before your child goes to sleep at night. When you whisper into their ears how uniquely gifted and kind you think they are, it gets deeply embedded into their sub–conscious mind. Make a one minute ‘Gratitude prayer’ part of yours and your child’s nightly routine. Make all the good values and good habits you wish your child to possess, into positive affirmations and watch the magic unfold as you see those qualities begin to reflect in your child soon after. Parenting, albeit challenging, can also be the most satisfying experience where you get the chance to relive your childhood. Make sure you have Fun as you learn, grow and evolve along this unique journey, as you watch your little one grow and blossom.Do try out Valuez App for free at https://bit.ly/2YVKD1C on Android for a lot of conversation enablers for your kid’s bedtime!- Mom view blog, written by Sonali Sharma for Valuez
January 10, 2022
