Are you raising your kids the right way? Do you think you are raising well-grounded and responsible kids the Full-House way or are you unconsciously raising spoiled bratty kids the Kardashian way?
As parents, it is our responsibility to raise our kids the best way we can so that they can be responsible and useful citizens of our communities. According to Dr. Sheryl Ziegler, your child is pretty much a reflection of your way of parenting:
… at the end of the day, if you have a spoiled child—one who relentlessly nags, cries and throws a huge fit when they do not get what they want—you only have yourself to blame!
Dr. Ziegler, who has a Doctorate in Psychology and who has been a regular featured contributor on major magazines such as Health and Wellness magazine, offers some great parenting tips on how you can raise kids the right way.
Below are Dr. Ziegler’s tips for raising unspoiled, thankful kids.
1. Say no…often. Practice delayed gratification and simply not always giving your children what they want, even if you can easily afford it.
2. Expect gratitude. Go beyond teaching your child to say please and thank you. Also teach them eye contact, a proper hand shake, affection and appreciation for the kind and generous things that are said and given to them. If this does not happen, have them return the gift (either to the person or to you for safe keeping) and explain that they aren’t yet ready to receive such a gift.
3. Practice altruism yourself. Donate clothes and toys to those in need (not just to your neighbors when it’s easy and they have younger children!) and have your kids be a part of that process. Do this regularly as a family and sort through, package and deliver the goods together so the kids really see where their things are going. Do this often and not just around the holidays.
4. Be mindful of the company you keep. If you only hang around other affluent families who are not raising their kids with intention, you may be surrounding yourself with those who will not help out with what you are trying to accomplish. Be sure family or friends you are spending significant time with have similar values to yours, otherwise you are going to feel defeated after a while.
5. Write thank you cards. Yes, handwritten on paper with a pen! Kids these days generally have shorter attention spans, are easily distracted and aren’t taught to take careful time and attention to express their appreciation. This simple yet important act can go a long way as a skill to teach expression of feelings and thoughtfulness.
There you have it. These are really awesome parenting tips from Dr. Ziegler on the best ways to raise well-grounded and responsible kids.
If you want to learn 5 additional tips on how not to raise spoiled brats, check out this great article by Dr. Ziegler on YourTango.com.
Do you have some tips on how not to raise spoiled bratty kids? Feel free to share.
