A Parents most important job is to demonstrate to their children how to live a fulfilling and happy life. Here are two simple suggestions that might boost your happy family practices overnight.
- Nurture Your Happiness
While we can’t control our children’s happiness, we are responsible for our own. And because children absorb everything from us, our moods matter. Happy parents are likely to have happy kids. Consequently, one of the best things you can do for your child’s emotional well-being is to attend to yours: carve out time for rest, relaxation, and, perhaps most important, romance.
Nurture your relationship with your spouse. If parents have a really good, committed relationship the child’s happiness is more likely to naturally follow.
If you and the opposite parent are not in a romantic relationship at this time, tend to your “co-parenting needs” instead, such as: cleaning house and communicating grievances; updating each other on emergency contact lists and other important documents; planning ahead for school and summer vacation time and access…. the start of the year is a perfect time to embark on some of these.
2. Practice Habitual Gratitude
Happiness studies consistently link feelings of gratitude to emotional well-being. Research at the University of California, Davis, and elsewhere has shown that people who keep daily or weekly gratitude journals feel more optimistic, make more progress toward goals, and feel better about their lives overall.
For a child, keeping a journal may be unrealistic. But one way to foster gratitude in children is to ask that each member of the family take time daily — before or during a meal, for example — to name aloud something he or she is thankful for. The important thing is to make it a regular ritual.
Happy parents truly do raise happy children. How can you experience more joy today? How can you set a great example of happiness for your children? I’d love to hear from you, so please leave a comment below!
By, Sahmra A. Stevenson, Esq.
S.A. Stevenson Law Offices, LLC
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