Parenting is one of the hardest jobs out there. You’re responsible not just for feeding and clothing your children, but raising and nurturing them into good human beings.
Having said that, there’s no fixed set of guidelines or one right way to parenting. Every child is different, and every parent is different, and therefore, good parenting can be different for everyone.
One aspect that is a must for good parenting is rewarding children.
The Importance of Rewarding Kids
Rewarding children for certain behaviors and rewarding hard work is extremely crucial to encourage them to continue doing it. Continuously rewarding kids for good actions will motivate them to repeat them until it becomes a habit. This is especially important when kids are younger.
The first seven years of a child’s life are quite important as during this time, their brains are rapidly growing, and they’re developing vital life and social skills.
If a parent can teach good habits to their children from a young age through a proper reward system, they have a good chance of sticking with them throughout their lives.
Additionally, rewarding kids, for example, by praising a child, makes them feel good about themselves. Consequently, it helps shape their personality as they have good self-esteem and self-confidence.
Similarly, there are a lot of benefits of rewarding children. It creates a positive atmosphere. Sometimes, it can even help discourage bad behavior.
How to Reward Kids
Some parents might think that getting their children their favorite toy or the latest gadget is the way to reward them. That is not necessarily true. Giving your child a gift is an example of a tangible reward. You can reward your children through intangible gifts, such as praise.
Parents must give both tangible and intangible rewards to not make them too materialistic. A simple pat on the back or praising their actions is enough to make your child feel good and motivated to do it again.
Rewarding kids doesn’t always have to be done after they’ve accomplished something. It’s important to reward them simply for putting in their best effort too, regardless of whether they were able to achieve their goal or not.
Dangers of Rewarding Children
Despite what many may believe, there is such a thing as too much rewarding. The main goal of rewarding kids is to encourage a particular behavior or habit.
If you put too much focus on rewarding, your child might become only focused on the rewards and not on inculcating those habits. Even if it’s intangible rewards like praise, too much of it can turn your child into a narcissist.
For parents, even the smallest of good deeds and tiniest achievements by their children can make them incredibly happy and proud.
From learning to tie their own shoelaces and getting potty trained to graduating from college and getting that first job, achieving these milestones simply fills parents with pride. However, to actually get their children to achieve those milestones, parents need to reward their kids regularly.
