New Year Gifts For Your Child

When I look back on my childhood and think of vacations or birthdays and other such occasions I don't seem to remember much, the gifts given by my parents to me .Rather, what I do remember is what they said to me or did on certain occasions and in some trying situations, or what life skills  I have imbibed by just unknowingly observing them.

 I remember instances - when they made me believe that failure is actually  an opportunity in disguise, when my father  wrote a certificate on his  proper letter head recognizing my effort of making tea for him for the first time or him making it a point to talk General Knowledge  to us kids - with us all sprawled on the mattresses spread on the floor for sleeping on the roof top gazing at the night sky  with stars shining and winking at us,which itself is a highly unheard of thing in today's times!

My reflections have confirmed my belief  that even in today's times when 'google' is the answer to all that is unknown AND for all appearances kids 'just don't have time to reflect on anything',   parents do  have an important legacy to leave behind for their children . Knowingly or unknowingly your children are going to pick it up and thank you for it one day.
That legacy ,those gifts have to be much more  precious than the gifts which money can buy and which we keep giving (too many these days) to our children. So this new year gift your children gifts which will shape your child's personality,which if imbibed will prepare them to face the challenges life inevitably throws at all of us. 

Here is my list of some gifts which only you can give to your child and which will positively impact your child's life . 

• Contentment -The gift of being able to be content and satisfied with what one has is a quality which can come, I feel, only by being brought up in a content home by parents who themselves lead a satisfied life.The appreciation of what God has given rather than mulling over what we don't have is very important to leading a healthy life -physically and mentally.(not to be confused with having a healthy sense of competition) 

• Room to grow and make mistakes - Kids are kids  and do let them be so.They will be un-organised, messy ,even nasty and may be prone to doing things wrongly, may take wrong decisions,... Do not take away from their real learning experiences, that, which can only be gained by experimenting, exploring and making mistakes.

If you are going to show that, they gain your approval only when they do everything right or when they have all the right answers for everything - right from academics to anything under their sky- they will be scared of making mistakes and their will be a big full stop to any out of the box thinking or creativity and imagination.

   

      It starts from something as simple as a parent's wanting to impress guests with their toddlers correct pronunciation /recitation/actions/... .Even a small frown of displeasure /disappointment on the parent's  face under such circumstances makes the child move towards getting un-confident and an approval seeker.

• Determination and a strong will power- The adage 'where there is a will there is a way' is not just a quote.It works.One of the biggest determiners in a child's success is the size of his will.Help your child build and shape the qualities of determination and strong will power by gifting him all the other gifts mentioned, for those provide the support required by the child to achieve this.

• Ability to challenge one's own self - Encourage your child to dream big and believe that anything is possible by a willingness to work hard to face obstacles.

• Imagination -Out of the box thinking(which is an important tool to survive tomorrow) has never happened without an imaginative mind.Give wings to your child's power of imagination by interactive story telling and other such skill builders.

• Optimism- Be an optimist in order to make your child an optimist.

Sense of humour- Knowing how to laugh, specially at one's own self is very important to succeed. Life will bring its ups and downs but a strong sense of humour will make the journey much easier.

• The gift of positive affirmations- Tell your child very often how much you as parents appreciate them.

• Unconditional acceptance and support - Let your child know and have it firmly imprinted on his mind that his parents acceptance and support for him are always there for him whatever might happen.This is a gift, which goes a long way in  making a child mentally balanced and unafraid of facing his mistakes and their consequences - in turn giving him the confidence to use failures as opportunities to do better.  

• Affection  All parents love their children, however showing it is very important too. Hug them, make them feel wanted .The results are enormous and endearing.

I have taken out a few what I call gems from the book of life as a parent and from observing other parents, for all my readers .I have chosen what have been and this year too are my New Year Gifts for my children. Have you?