As human beings, we mimic our environment. What we are taught early on as children directly impacts how we approach our lives as adults. Every parent’s job is to prepare their child for healthy adulthood, which starts with implementing healthy habits. Even though the idea of teaching your children how to grow up before their time sounds strict, understand that it is a necessary part of a healthy upbringing. The brain’s most critical developing years are early into life, so parents must instill healthy thinking and behaviors then. Plus, who said healthy habits couldn’t be fun? Here are three ways to implement healthy habits for your kids without missing out on the fun!
1. Encourage Mindful Eating
The truth is that nobody likes to feel out of control with their eating habits, but nobody likes giving up their sweet tooth, either. Mindful eating is the practice of paying attention to the act of eating on purpose. You take the time to notice when you feel full and stop eating when your body tells you to.
Rather than taking away yummy foods, your kids can still have them, along with healthy essentials like kids vitamins. Encourage your kids to practice mindful eating, so they can stay healthy and have their sweet tooth dessert too! Many adults struggle with weight management because they were taught that comfort eating is acceptable in childhood, and many families partake in comfort eating regularly.
As adults, curbing the tendency to eat more than is needed or refraining from the impulse to indulge despite weight gain becomes difficult; these issues can lead to weight gain and unhappiness. Even if you’re not a leftovers type of person, or eating the last bite seems better than throwing away the food, you must take time to listen to your body to see if it is satisfied.
2. Teach Them Emotional Regulation Skills
It’s normal for children to throw tantrums and react a bit more intensely to situations than the average adult. However, these issues can manifest in adulthood if you do not teach your kid emotional regulation skills. Not every child is doomed to have difficulties if these skills are not introduced, but many will struggle without proper instruction.
We are creatures of habit, and if we don’t learn how to take control of our emotions, our emotions will control us. Teach your child how to process their feelings effectively so that as adults, they can manage conflict, navigate relationships, and stay in control of their emotions. We are all ruled by our thoughts and feelings, so getting these aspects in check matters!
3. Introduce Life Skills To Your Kids
As parents, you should start to introduce life skills in some way so that your child can feel independent and self-reliant as an adult. You can have your kids develop a work ethic by shadowing you at work or implementing chores and rewarding them for their hard work.
Life skills are the general skills every person needs to know to live independently as an adult. Things like money management can be accomplished by playing counting games with candy.
Other life skills include practicing basic hygiene, riding a bike, and taking care of yourself, which are also important. Even instilling confidence might be enough to get them to pursue life skills independently. It’s the parents’ job to teach these life skills regardless of how independent the child is.
It’s About Balance
Kids need to be kids, but it is still the parent’s job to teach their kids how to enter into adulthood successfully. You can’t protect your kid from everything, but you can create a balance of fun and healthy habits to set them up for happiness and success as adults.
