How to Treat Your Child with Respect

Children need to be taken seriously. Sometimes this is difficult because they say something "cute" and we are tempted to laugh. Here are some key tips to ensuring your child knows you take their thoughts and opinions seriously.

When Your Child Says Something Cute

Try not to laugh. Think of the last time someone laughed at you when you said something. Did you think they thought your comment was "cute" or "stupid"? Often a parent will laugh when a child says something sute but the child may misinterpret it as they said something stupid. Obviously, if your child is intentionally telling a funny - by all means laugh. However, you can take your cues from your child. Is your child is a serious mood or a funny mood? If your child is telling you something serious and you are tempted to laugh, do your best to suppress the laughter or move the other room when it is appropriate. The last thing you want is your child, preschooler, toddler or young adult thinking you are laughing at them. If the child is older, you may be able to explain your laughter. However, the younger the child is (toddler through first grade), the more important it is that you don't laugh out of turn. I am a parent. I KNOW that this is hard to do.

When Your Child is Talking

Listen. This is tough. We ask children to listen to us, but do we ever listen to them. This does not mean you should drop a conversation with an adult to pay attention to a child who interrupts. Children should be taught that it is inappropriate to interrupt except in extreme circumstances (fire, someone is attempting to harm them, etc.). With this being said, there are often times we are focused on our own things and a child simply needs our attention. We need to be attentive to our child. Yes, sometimes the conversation is not on your favorite topic. But you can still be attentive, listen and stay engaged. To your child this is extremely important and it shows love. A parent who doesn't listen is unloving.

Watching

If your child is engaged in play, a great way to show them you admire and respect them is simply to watch them play. You can ask them about their play but if they aren't interested in giving you information about what they are playing, don't push. This could circumvent your efforts to respect your child. Instead, watch and listen. You will learn a lot about your child simply by watching and listening to them play. As an added bonus, you may be amazed at how getting to know your child better will help guide your parenting style to appropriately match the temperament of your child.

Children need to be admired and respected. Often adults don't take the time. Children feel no different inside than you or I. That is why it is important we give them admiration and respect. We should expect respect from our children and also respect them in return.